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Board backs Dolly Parton Imagination Library enrollment and provides initial county support
Summary
Tazewell County supervisors approved an initial county contribution (from contingency) to help enroll children in Dolly Parton's Imagination Library countywide and authorized a $500 transfer from a district capital fund to support Pocahontas’s initial participation.
The Tazewell County Board of Supervisors voted on Sept. 9 to provide initial county support for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library after a presentation by Erica (speaker 11), who announced the program went live countywide and that more than 300 children had already enrolled.
Erica explained the program mails an age‑appropriate book monthly to every registered child from birth until age 5. Local participation costs about $2.50 per child per month, and the Commonwealth of Virginia is matching local commitments through 2029, reducing the local cost to roughly $1.30 per registered child per month. Erica provided countywide enrollment and eligibility figures (1,883 eligible children) and a breakdown of town commitments; she asked the board to sponsor children in the unincorporated remainder of the county.
The board moved to provide funding from contingency for the first year of county coverage (the motion was made and seconded) and to route future funding through the library’s budget process. Separately, the board approved a $500 transfer from the Northern District Capital Improvement Fund to the library budget to support the town of Pocahontas’s initial participation.
Supervisors urged continued outreach to increase registration and noted that the state match through 2029 makes local participation more affordable.
