This month, Smart Start of New Hanover County is celebrating the distribution of 250,000 free books to young children in the county in partnership with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL), according to a news release.

Executive Director Jane Morrow said in the release, “Reading aloud to young children literally helps build their brains and fosters bonding.  We hope every family with a young child will join Smart Start and Dolly to bring these books into their homes.”

Smart Start began rolling out Imagination Library in October 2017 "to foster a love of reading among children through the gift of a specially selected book delivered right to their home each month," the release stated.

The program is now available throughout North Carolina to children under the age of 5, no matter their family’s income. With 75 local Smart Start partnerships across the state, they continue to enroll young children to get as many books into the homes of children as possible, according to the release.

To find out more about Smart Start of NHC and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library partnership or to enroll a child in New Hanover County, visit www.newhanoverkids.org/dolly-partons-imagination-library. More information is available online at www.newhanoverkids.org.