The United Way of the Lower Eastern Shore has expanded Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library through SmartStart, a new partnership with TidalHealth, to increase support for new parents.  Imagination Library is an early childhood literacy program providing a free book by mail each month for children from birth to age 5. 

Through SmartStart, families welcoming a baby at TidalHealth facilities may automatically enroll their child in Imagination Library and may be eligible for a new car seat.

All families will receive a “Welcome Pack” with the baby’s first book and guides with early reading tips and other resources. A bilingual welcome book will also be available in Haitian Creole and Spanish.

UWLES has provided Imagination Library to Dorchester, Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester counties since 2012 and has served nearly 12,500 local children with 375,000 free books to date. 

“Making it easy for families to enroll their child in Imagination Library at birth means that more Lower Shore children will receive the maximum early development benefits of the program and will be more likely to have the skills they need when entering kindergarten,” said Pam Gregory, President and CEO of UWLES. 

This expansion of Imagination Library is supported by grants from the Richard A. Henson Foundation, the Donnie Williams Foundation, the Gannett Foundation and other supporters.

“Providing families in our community the opportunity to engage in brain development, social and emotional development, and literacy with their children from birth is essential,” said Stacey McMichael, Executive Director of the Richard A. Henson Foundation.

“In addition to enrolling families into the Imagination Library Program, we are also able to provide moms in need with new car seats through grant funding from CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield. We hope that through partnerships like these we will ultimately improve health equity and wellness for new moms and give babies a safe, healthy, and smart start,” said Dr. Kathryn Fiddler, Vice President of Population Health at TidalHealth.

Imagination Library is also supported by PNC Bank’s Grow Up Great program, Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore, M&T Bank, Gateway Pediatrics, the Optimist Club of Salisbury, Elks Lodge 817, the Salisbury, Wicomico, Salisbury Sunrise, Cambridge, and Ocean City-Berlin Rotary Clubs, the John & Janice Wyatt Foundation, and through a fundraising partnership with Risk Placement Services and Gallagher.