Moundsville-Marshall County Public Library Celebrates ‘Dolly Day’
Emma Delk Trending
Local children created their own version of a "Coat of Many Colors" during a "Dolly Day" reading and craft event held at the Moundsville-Marshall County Public Library.
The event, themed around country singer Dolly Parton, was born through a collaboration between Marshall County Schools and the Moundsville-Marshall County Public Library to commemorate the statewide celebration of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library program.
The Imagination Library provides parents who sign up for the program with a free book for their child each month from birth to age five.
Eight weeks after signing up, they will receive the first book of the program, "The Little Engine That Could," by Watty Piper, in the mail.
Gov. Jim Justice declared Aug. 9 "Dolly Parton's Imagination Library Day" in 2022 to celebrate the program, and Haines and Moundsville-Marshall County Public Library Director Susan Reilly created special programming for local children to commemorate the holiday.
Marshall County Schools Superintendent Shelby Haines said the county participates in a program with the Dolly Foundation in which the organization pays for half of the books sent to Marshall County Schools children through the Imagination Library program. Marshall County Schools covers the other half of the funding for the books.
"We're trying to encourage early literacy in the home, so part of that is being in partnership with the Imagination Library program," Haines said. "Libraries across the state hold 'Read to Me Days' on Dolly Day, so we are supporting the holiday that Gov. Jim Justice declared today with our own. The school system has a great partnership with the library, and they are actually part of our levy, so we work very well together for programming like this."
While Dolly herself was not present to read to the children, Haines stepped up to read Dolly Parton's "I Am a Rainbow" during the event.
Attendees to Friday's programming also got in the spirit of the holiday, with children dressing up in cowboy boots and hats reminiscent of the singer.
During the reading, Haines had children share what experiences made them feel various emotions, such as "joyful" and "envious," with each emotion corresponding to a different color of the rainbow. Afterward, retired Marshall County Schools teacher Mickey Massey taught children how to say the various colors in sign language.
Once the reading activity was completed, the children began a craft activity in which they colored in a rainbow. After completing the first project, attendees moved on to the next activity of creating a design on a scratch bookmark that revealed rainbow colors underneath it.
The Dolly Parton-themed fun could continue beyond the library for attendees, with children receiving an additional craft to take home. Parents were also provided another take-home reading activity to complete with their children and information about the Imagination Library programming.
"We're also sending some books home with the parents, so they have even more books in their hands," Haines noted. "We really want to encourage early literacy in the home, and part of that is being in partnership with the Imagination Library program and the library."
Reilly noted Friday's event was one of many "Read to Me" days in which Marshall County Schools employees volunteered to read to local children.
"We have a lot of Marshall County Schools children who come to the programming," Reilly noted. "We had almost 1,500 people in attendance to these events last year, and we're probably close to that number this year. It's important to have children being read to and reading themselves as early as possible so they stay active readers as they grow older."