Franklin Regional, Panther Foundation and Murrysville Library to launch Dolly Parton Imagination Library

The Franklin Regional School District, working with the Panther Foundation and the Murrysville Community Library Foundation, will launch the Dolly Parton Imagination Library to deliver age-appropriate books to children under age 5 at no cost, district officials announced Wednesday.

Dina Caliper, director of communications and development for the district and executive director of the Panther Foundation, said a committee chaired by Tabitha Riggio will lead the local rollout. "Back in November, a group of us got together ... to partner together to participate in the Dolly Parton Imagination Library," Caliper said, describing the program as one that "helps provide books to kiddos under the age of 5 once a month for anyone who signs up."

George App, president of the Murrysville Community Library Foundation, said the partnership will support early literacy and family engagement. Kat Neiding, director of the Murrysville Community Library, and Sydney Anderson, the library’s youth services coordinator, explained the library’s youth services reach and collection: Anderson noted the juvenile collection holds about 17,000 items and circulated nearly 50,000 times last year, underscoring the library’s role in early access to books.

Caliper said the Panther Foundation and the Murrysville Library Foundation have committed funding to cover the program for the next two years. The program will serve children under 5 in the Export and Murrysville areas; Delmont students are covered by the Delmont Community Library, she said. Sign-up information will be distributed to families in the coming weeks.

The agreement was presented during the superintendent’s report portion of the Feb. 18 board meeting; district officials called it a community collaboration to expand early-literacy access. No formal vote was required at the meeting.