Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Ionia County

Drawing will be held March 23rd at Noon at Ionia ISD

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What is the Dolly Parton Imagination Library?

The Dolly Parton Imagination Library is a book distribu-tion program for young children. The program provides a book a month from birth until the child turns five years of age. The program was started by Dolly Parton with the purpose of providing a home library for young chil-dren. Over the course of 5 years a child would have a home library of 60 books. The cost for the program is $27.00 which funds a child for one year!

Total cost per child from birth to age five would be $135.00!

How is the program funded?

The program is a gift from the community back to its youngest citizens. It is funded completely by community donations. Just $27.00 provides a child a book a month for an entire year! The DPIL is a United Way affiliate and has two corporate sponsors: Michigan One Community Credit Union and Professional Contract Management Inc (PCMI). In addition the program is financially supported by all of the local school districts and many individual donors as well.

How many children are participating in the pro-gram?

The program started in January of 2007 with fund-raising activities. By June of 2007, the first 16 families received their first books. Since January of 2015, every month over 1800 children are receiving books through this program. Approximately 2580 different children have received books this year in Ionia County.

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How many children could participate in the program?

There are about 4000 children in this age range. The Dolly Parton Foundation indicates that 70% of the population will participate. That would be approximate-ly 2800 kids. Our numbers indicate that 77% of the tar-geted population is participating.

Why did the Ionia ISD start this program?

The program started in Tennessee and has spread across the United States and Canada. School leaders from the Ionia ISD and local school districts embraced the concept of the program and felt that it would be a very appropriate school readiness initiative for our whole county. Ionia is only one of the 18 counties in the state that have this program.

It is one of the few programs that starts right from birth and has the potential to have great returns. It is one of the few programs that everyone can participate in!!

The program’s concept is researched based….

Children who are read to before school are better equipped for the demands of kindergar-ten than those that are not.

Having books accessible in the home environ-ment increases the likelihood that children will be read to.

Children who are behind when they start kin-dergarten do not typically catch up without specific intensive interventions.

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Is the program making a difference for children in Ionia County?

A total of 1981families enrolled in the program were mailed a brief survey in September to assess their reading habits. Of those, 15% of the surveys were re-turned. The results indicated the following:

97% of respondents reported their child is bringing the books to them and requesting them to read to them

94% of respondents reported their children are spending more time looking at books on their own.

89% of respondents reported they are reading more to their children then they did before

Is the program needed?

55% of respondents reported they would not be able to participate in the program if funding from community donations was NOT available.

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The presence of books in the home has a greater influence on a child’s level of education than does the parents’ income, nationali-ty, or level of education. A 20-year study shows how investing in books can make a big difference.

Educators long have believed that the top predictor of whether a child attained a high level of education was highly-educated par-ents. A 20-year international study, however, has revealed an even bigger predictor of a child’s academic success: the presence of books in the home. Regardless of nationality, level of education, or their parents’ economic status, children who grew up with books in their homes reached a higher level of edu-cation than those who did not, according to the study, Family Scholarly Culture and Educational Success: Books and Schooling in 27 Nations published in Research in Social Stratifica-tion and Mobility.

Having as few as 20 books in the home has a significant impact on a child’s ascent to a higher level of education, the study found. The more books in the house, the greater the benefit. Ac-cording to a press release about the study, “In some countries, such as China, having 500 or more books in the home propels children 6.6 years further in their education. In the United States, the effect is less -- 2.4 years, rather than the 3.2-year average ad-vantage experienced across all 27 countries in the study.”

The research was led by Dr. Mariah Evans, an associate professor of sociology and resource economics at the University of Neva-da, Reno. She was joined by researchers from UCLA and The Australian National University. The project is one of the largest and most comprehensive studies ever conducted on influences on the level of education a child will attain. Read the rest of the arti-cle at: http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/chat/chat265.shtml

Article by Ellen R. Delisio; Education World R

Copyright 2010 Education World

Published 9/28/2010

The More Books at Home, The Higher the Child’s Education

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The quilt raffle is one way you can support the li-brary and provide books to children in their homes. There are 45 quilts total, that are featured in this book, each quilt is handmade by community mem-bers and citizens interested in assuring that every child has books in their home and is read to before they go to school. The quilts were designed to be lap quilts for you and your child to cuddle up and share a book. The quilts are based on the book, The Mitten

by Jan Brett.

Tickets for the raffle will be $5.00 per ticket or

$30.00 for 10 tickets. This is approximately the same amount of money that it costs to fund a child in the program for an entire year! The more tickets you buy, the more chances you have to win a quilt that is sure to be treasured by your child. Tickets can be purchased at the Ionia ISD and through the

following community organizations.

Checks should be payable to: Ionia ISD - DPIL

The quilts can also be viewed online at www.ioniaisd.org.

Belding Ionia Lakewood Portland Saranac

• Alvah N Belding Memorial Library

• Michigan One Community Credit Union (Main St)

• Lake Odessa Community

Library

• Around the Block Quilt

Shop

• Saranac Elementary

School

•Ionia County ISD

•Ionia Community Library

Biggby

• Friends

Quilting Basket

• Portland Community

Library

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THE DRAWING WILL BE HELD ON MARCH 23th AT NOON.

A total of 35 raffle tickets will be drawn. Winners will receive the quilt that corresponds with the number in the book. If the quilt has been bought back by the quilter then the indi-vidual will receive the next available quilt. The winners will be contacted by phone and posted on the Ionia County ISD web-site. Thank you in

advance for your support of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library of Ionia County.

www.ioniaisd.org/dpil

A special thank-you to our sponsors:

Michigan One Community Credit Union · PCMI · United Way Belding Area Schools · Ionia Public Schools

Palo Community Schools · Portland Public Schools Lakewood Public Schools · Saranac Community Schools

Biggby · Around the Block Quilt Shop · Friends Quilting Basket

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Table of Contents Quilt Number Page Kay Tipton #1 10

Donna Martin #2 11

Bed Beltz #3 12

Brenda Simpson #4 13

Carolyn Fox #5 14

Valery Wymer #6 15

Lynn Aro #7 16

Sue Latham #8 17

Dorothy Kelly #9 18

Eva Hatt #10 19

Doris Tubergen #11 20

Anne Bignall #12 21

Cynthia Cole #13 22

Catherine Zwerk #14 23

Nina Butler #15 24

Julie Linn #16 25

Joan Weygandt #17 26

Christi Pett #18 27

Mary McMillen #19 28

Judy Rowley #20 29

Angie Grove #21 30

Windy Hartuniewicz #22 31

Martha Goetz #23 32

Bonnie Kimble #24 33

Pat Trommater #25 34

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Table of Contents Quilt Number Page

Mary Foy #26 35

Joan Mull #27 36

Julie Tubbs-Lott #28 37

Liz Callihan & Kim Kimball #29 38

Sandra Ranville #30 39

Sue Reynolds #31 40

Sharon VanWeelde #32 41

Saudia Peterson #33 42

Barbara Hamm #34 43

Linda Dallal #35 44

Roni Beck #36 45

Marilyn Steward #37 46

Florence Nitz #38 47

Brandie Cooper-Robert #39 48

Angela Coan #40 49

Gwen Wentworth #41 50

D. Marilyn Reed #42 51

Laura Heffron #43 52

Pat Vezino #44 53

Amanda Ondersma #45 54

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Kay Tipton pieced and machine quilt-ed this adorable quilt. It measures 48” x 48”. Sashed in red and blue, it has an inner border of black, with an outer border of light blue print with white snowflakes. That fabric is also appli-quéd in the corner blocks in the shape of mittens. It is backed with a white flannel print, and machine quilted in the shape of mittens.

Quilt 1:

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Quilt 2:

This 3 dimensional quilt can also be used as a wall hanging. Donna Rae Martin pieced and machine quilted this unique quilt. According to Donna, she used mit-tens from a sweater her mother, Ruth Kelly, had. Her mother loved children and loved to read to them. She passed away in 2009. The quilt measures 32 ½” x 57”. It is backed with a light blue print of mittens and bound in blue..

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Quilt 3:

Deb Beltz pieced and machine quilted this cute quilt which has appliquéd white felt mittens with navy blue rick rack on the sides. Measuring 37” x 45”, the back-ground fabric is a solid blue color, with sashing of a darker solid blue color. It is backed in blue, and bound in a stripe fabric.

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Quilt 4:

Brenda Simpson pieced and ma-chine quilted this lovely quilt. Measuring 43 ½” x 52”, she pieced log blocks around The Mitten book pages with a crumb block border. Brenda says that crumb blocks are 4” blocks of scraps that are sewn together randomly and then cut in-to 4 ½” blocks. It is bound and backed in a brown fabric.

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Quilt 5:

A team effort made this cute quilt.

Carolyn Fox did the piecing and the machine quilting was done by Stella Wilcox. It measures 44” x 52 ½”, and features a woodsy theme, with sashing fabric that looks like hay, and an inner border that looks like grass. It is bound with the hay print fabric and bordered and backed in a print of outdoor animal fabric.

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Quilt 6:

ValerWymer pieced and machine quilted this adorable quilt. It measures 43 ½ ” x 67”. The blocks have an ap-pliquéd frame of brown fabric on a background of blue print. Machine embroidery on a solid blue back-ground tops the quilt. It is bordered in maroon and bound in a black print. The backing is a print of blue, brown, beige and maroon squares.

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Quilt 7:

This charming quilt is designed, pieced and quilted by Lynn Aro. The mittens and snowflakes were ap-pliquéd by Barbara Claycomb. It measures 61” x 72”. The pages of the story are edged in tree bark-like fabric with bright blue frames on a light blue background. The inner border is black, and the outer border and backing is blue with mittens and hats in red, yellow, blue and green.

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Quilt 8:

Suzanne Latham pieced this adora-ble quilt and it was machine quilted by Sandra Knoester. It measures 49 ½” x 59”. Sashed in light brown, the blocks are bordered in browns and light browns on a background of beige. It has a piano key border, and is bound and backed in a beige print with blue geometric shapes. Suzanne also in-cludes a piece measuring 22” x 15” which a can be used as a small wall hanging or a table topper.

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Quilt 9:

This charming quilt was pieced by Dorothy Kelley using four patch blocks alternating with blue blocks. The border is a print with white mittens on red. The binding is a stripe fabric. The top and bottom border fabric matches the binding. It measures 44” x 61”. The backing fabric is red with bunnies and bears. Peg Possehn finished the quilt with machine quilting.

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Quilt 10:

Eva Hatt pieced and machine quilt-ed this striking quilt with black pip-ing setting off blocks of the mitten pages that are framed in blue with pinwheel blocks. The border is a light blue fabric, and the binding is a darker blue fabric. It measures 43” x 59”. The backing fabric is light blue. Eva finished the quilt with the “stitch in the ditch” method of ma-chine quilting.

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Quilt 11:

This beautiful lightweight quilt was pieced by Doris Tubergen with the mitten page blocks pieced into a back-ground of a goldenrod fabric. The sashing is a royal blue. The header row has star blocks on either side of the larger mitten page block. The binding and backing are a yellow and blue print on white. Measuring 45” x 68 ½”, Cynthia Cole machine quilted

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Quilt 12:

This adorable quilt was pieced and tied by Anne Bignall and Family. Measuring 45 ½” x 58 ½”, the theme is red, white and blue. Machine appliqued mittens form the header row and bottom corner blocks. The border is white fabric. It is bound, and backed in a blue fabric.

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Quilt 13:

Cynthia Cole pieced and ma-chine quilted this charming quilt. The mitten pages are sur-rounded by strips of various browns, tans and beige fabrics. It measures 43” x 55”. It is bound, and backed in a pale blue batik fabric.

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Quilt 14:

Catherine Zwerk pieced this delightful quilt. The blocks are centered and sashed in red fabric on a background of winter themed fabrics. It measures 42” x 54 ½”. It is bound, and backed in blue fabric. Catherine finished the quilt with hand quilting in the shapes of mittens.

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Quilt 15:

Nina Butler pieced and machine quilt-ed this cozy quilt which is backed in green fleece for extra warmth. The sashing is a gold fabric and the mitten pages alternate with blocks of brown. The border is green and the binding is brown. It measures 33” x 51”. The mitten block is machine appliqued, and the quilt is finished in the “stitch in the ditch” method.

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Quilt 16:

This delightful quilt was pieced and machine quilted by Julie Linn, and she made a darling pillowcase, too. It measures 39 ½” x 45”. The sash-ing is a birch like fabric. The middle border is white snowflakes on blue fabric. The inner and outer borders are red fabric. It is bound in brown and backed in a gold flannel fabric.

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Quilt 17:

This charming quilt was pieced by Joan Weygandt. The mitten pages are framed in brown fabric and appliqued into a background fabric that looks like a stone wall. It measures 42 ½” x 69 ½”. It is backed and bound in a brown fabric. Peg Possehn did the ma-chine quilting.

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Quilt 18:

Christi Pett pieced and machine quilted this charming quilt in a snowflake and mitten motif. With a sashing of blue, it has corner-stones of a brown/beige print. The inner border is beige and the outer border is brown. It measures 36 ½” x 56”, and it is backed in white minkee.

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Quilt 19:

Mary McMillen designed and pieced her quilt for the young reader. “The different colored strips are arranged to encourage ‘left to right’ reading. The pocket with mittens and a book should also encourage the joy of reading.” The sashing’s are grey, green, yel-low and red. The background fabric is grey. The outer border is blue, and the pocket has accent buttons. The quilt is machine quilted by Peg Possehn. It measures 36 ½” x 57”, and it is backed in blue minkee.

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Quilt 20:

Judy Rowley named her charming quilt “The Mitten in the Library” and has this to say about her quilt: “This quilt was made from an inter-est I had in doing a bookcase quilt. Some books’ bindings were copied onto fabric for assembly on the shelves.” It measures 41 ½” x 60”, and was pieced and machine quilted by Judy. The mitten book pages are pieced into the back of the quilt.

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Quilt 21:

Angie Grove pieced and hand-tied her cute quilt with the help of her two daughters, Lilly and Riley Burgess. It measures 41 ” x 61”, with a snowflake background. The border is blue. The backing is navy blue with white polka dot fabric and fleece lining.

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Quilt 22:

Windy Hartaniewicz pieced and tied her quilt with beige. It is backed and bound in light brown flannel with snowflakes. The blocks are pieced into a back-ground that is strip pieced with 9 patch cornerstones giving this adorable quilt a very warm coun-try feel. It measures 47 ½ ” x 59”.

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Quilt 23:

“Story Time” is the name of Martha Goetz’s charming quilt. The house is pieced, and the words and tree are appliqued. Grey yarn is couched around the mitten shape. The background of the quilt is of white snow-flakes on blue fabric. It is bound in a birch like fabric, and backed in white. It measures 47 ½ ” x 67”.

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Quilt 24:

Bonnie Kimball pieced and quilt-ed this wonderful quilt. The blocks are framed in various fabrics and follow the story line with 3D mit-tens appliqued that a child can put their hands in. It measures 44” x 55”. The background of the quilt is white, and the border is blue. It is bound in a stripe fabric and the backing is a blue print.

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Quilt 25:

Pat Trommater used a shadow box pattern to set the mitten pages into. With a blue outer border, the middle border is white and the inner border is a blue/aqua print fabric that was also used for the backing. It measures 42” x 62 ½”. The binding is a darker blue fabric, and there is a little porcupine toy stuffed into a mitten in the lower right block!

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Quilt 26:

This adorable quilt was pieced and tied by Mary Foy. Measuring 37 ½” x 41 ½”, Mary used the handprint of Clay, her youngest grandson, as a pattern for the mitten’s she satin stitched onto the quilt. He receives books from the Dolly Parton Imagina-tion Library every month.

Mary also appliqued woodland animals onto the mittens, like a fox, a bear, an owl, a hedge-hog, a bunny and a mouse.

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Quilt 27:

Joan Mull designed and pieced this cute quilt that can be used as a wall handing, thanks to the rod pockets that are attached to the top and bottom on the back. It has a blue background with brown sashing. White mittens of all sizes are ap-pliqued with a buttonhole stitch . It measures 39 ¼” x 53” and is backed and bound in brown fabric. Carol Huster machine quilted it using a stip-pling stitch.

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Quilt 28:

Julie Tubbs Lott pieced and quilted this charming quilt using a ‘stitch in the ditch’ method. The blocks are pieced into a back-ground of brown leaf print. The outer border is a brown paw print fabric. It is bound in a blue fabric, and backed in a solid maroon fab-ric. It measures 39 ½” x 60 ½”

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Quilt 29:

This adorable quilt was pieced by Liz Callihan and Kim Kimball. It measures 41 ½” x 51”, and has a beige outer border, a brown inner border with a solid blue sashing. There are al-ternating pieced blocks of blue, brown, and beige. The top corner blocks are machine appliqued flowers and leaves. The bottom corner blocks are white ap-pliqued mittens on blue. It is bound in blue with a blue fleece backing. Kim Kimball machine quilted it using the ‘stitch in the ditch’ method.

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Quilt 30:

Sandra Ranville pieced and quilted this wonderful quilt. The blocks are framed with beige sashing. The cornerstones are brown. It measures 39 ¼” x 56 ¾”. The border is a pinecone print and the binding is brown. A wildlife print fabric was used as the backing and the quilt is finished using the “stitch in the ditch” method of quilting. Sandy is a member of the “Sew Much Fun” group.

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Quilt 31:

Sue Reynolds pieced and quilted this darling quilt which features white chenille mittens and snow-drifts that are appliqued. The mitten pages are pieced into a background of blue. The quilt is bound in red and backed in a brown and black square print fabric. It measures 36” x 48 ¼”.

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Quilt 32:

This cute quilt can be used as a wall hanging too. Sharon VanWeelde pieced the blocks into a blue back-ground, with brown cornerstones. There is a white mitten appliqued with a little mouse peeking out. Measuring 39” x 48”, the quilt has a brown border and binding and a blue with white stars print backing. The machine quilting was done by Karen Giles.

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This bright and colorful quilt was pieced and quilted by Saudia Petersen. She used fabrics with stripes and polka dots. It measures 37 ¼” x 52”. It is backed and bound in a lively flannel print and is ma-chine quilted in an overall swirl pattern.

Quilt 33:

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Quilt 34:

Barbara Hamm pieced this lovely quilt using browns and tans with the mitten blocks placed in three col-umns, with corner blocks of the same fabrics. She used a blue fabric for the sashing and borders. It is bound in brown and backed in a ted-dy bear print. Kelly Ruthruff ma-chine quilted it. It measures 39” x 56 ½”. Barbara is a member of the “Sew Much Fun” group.

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Quilt 35:

This charming quilt is pieced and machine quilted by Linda Dallal. Linda used solid color fabrics to frame the mitten blocks. The binding is pieced and the backing is a blue chev-ron on white flannel. Measur-ing 29 ½” x 37 ½”, Linda stip-pled the quilt in thread colors to match the blocks.

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Quilt 36:

Roni Beck pieced and machine quilted this charming quilt. It measures 40” x 60” and has a blue with silver stars sashing. The mitten blocks are alternated with blocks of white on white fabric. It is quilted using blue thread. Bound in a stripe, the backing is a star print on beige. Roni used a 80/20 cotton/polyester batting and included a case for a small pillow or pajama’s.

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Quilt 37:

This bright and colorful quilt was pieced and machine quilted by Marilyn Steward. She pieced 9 patch blocks in yellow and green. The mitten blocks are set in beige fabric and alternate with beige blocks sashed in red, and corner-stones of green, blue and yellow. It is bound in green and backed in a red print. It measures 50” x 58”. Marilyn is a member of the Silk City Quilt Guild.

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Quilt 38:

Florence Nitz pieced and tied this charming quilt. She framed the mitten blocks us-ing a birch looking fabric with cornerstones of various solid colors. The sashing and bind-ing is a sandstone fabric. Measuring 42 ½” x 55 ½”, it is backed in a print of mittens on blue. Florence included a pair of real mittens. Florence is a member of the “Sew Much Fun” group.

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Quilt 39:

This adorable raggy-edged quilt was pieced by Brandie Cooper-Roberts. The mitten blocks are inserted into raggy-edge blocks of flannel. It is cozy and inviting with flannels of browns, maroon and green. It measures 42” x 57 ½”, and is backed in brown flannel.

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Quilt 40:

Angela Coan pieced and quilt-ed this charming quilt. It measures 48 ¾” x 60”. Angela used a “Take 5” pattern called The Teacher’s Pet to create a lovely scrappy look. It has been quilted using a stitch in the ditch technique. It is bordered, bound and backed in a blue print fabric.

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Quilt 41:

This adorable quilt is pieced and machine tacked by Gwen Wentworth. The storybook blocks are surrounded with a rich blue fabric. The scarlet corner accent blocks are topped with appliqued fuzzy mittens. The scarlet border draws in touches of that color through-

out. It measures 44” x 46” .

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Quilt 42:

D. Marilyn Reid designed, pieced and hand quilted this amazing quilt. The words of Mitten book are hand embroidered in the center of the quilt with a mouse hiding in a mit-ten. The center is set off with red piping. The borders are comprised of a collage of the pictures accented with 3-D flowers. It measures 45 1/2” x 59”

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Quilt 43:

Laura Heffron pieced and quilted this charming quilt which has ap-pliqued mittens in the corner blocks. The inner border is a brown print. It has a piano key border. The binding is a royal blue fabric and the backing is red. It measures 44” x 44” and is machine quilted with mitten and tree designs.

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Quilt 44:

This delightful quilt is an original de-sign by Pat Vezino. She pieced the quilt with highlights of machine ap-pliqued mittens. She used snowflake fabric for the outer border and rabbit fabric as sashing. It is bound in beige and backed in blue with a middle col-umn of bunny fabric. It measures 49” x 55” and is finished using the stitch in

the ditch method .

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Quilt 45:

Amanda Ondersma pieced and quilted this charming quilt. It has appliqued mittens and snowflakes surrounding the mitten blocks which are framed in solid colors. The back-ground is white. Measuring 44” x 55”, it has a red and white checked binding. The backing is an aqua and

brown snowflake print fabric .

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Top 10 Reasons You Should Support The Imagination Library

…..…from a child’s point of view

1. Having books in my home increases the likelihood that someone will read to me!

2. The average middle class family has 13 books per child in their home. My fam-ily is low income and there is 1 book for every 300 children in my neighborhood.

3. Sharing a book with my mommy or daddy is a time for me to cuddle, feel loved, attach to my caregiver and strengthen my social-emotional development.

4. Being read to develop pathways in my brain that will help me recognize the sounds that make up words. Being able to differentiate the sounds that make up words is a critical skill I will need to learn to read.

5. Being read to helps me learn new words! This is very important because my language/vocabulary skills at the age of 2 are a strong predicator of my later school success.

6. When I have books in my home, I can hear the story read to me over and over! This repetition helps me strengthen the pathways in the brain and develops my memory and expressive language skills. Soon I will be able to read the book to you!

7. Being read to helps me pay attention and develop listening skills which are very important for my overall ability to learn.

8. Being read to before I go to school introduces me to letters and numbers. I learn that print has meaning. Soon I will recognize my name on the book that is sent to my house each month.

9. Being read to before I enter kindergarten increases the likelihood that I will learn to read and am successful in school. If I start out behind in kindergarten, the research suggests that I will not catch up without specific intensive inter-vention to help me.

10. If I do not learn to read, I will most likely be underemployed or unemployed, be dependent upon the welfare system and/or become incarcerated during our lifetime.

INVEST IN ME… I am our future!

"A dollar invested in early childhood yields THREE times as much as for school-aged children, and EIGHT times as much for adult education," James Heckman Nobel Prize-winning economist.

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