20 • The Beacon December 16 , 2021
First Lady DeWine visits Coshocton , promotes literacy
By Josie Sellers
A classroom at the South Lawn Head Start location had a special guest reader on Dec . 9 . First Lady Fran DeWine was in town to promote the Ohio Governor ’ s Imagination Library and stopped by to read “ The Very Hungry Caterpillar ” to students .
“ It was Mrs . DeWine ’ s favorite book to read to her kids and now her 26 grandchildren ,” said Catherine Sulecki , communication director for the Ohio Governor ’ s Imagination Library . “ It ’ s perfect for kids age 3-5 because it ’ s an interactive and fun story .”
DeWine is working on traveling to all of Ohio ’ s 88 counties to help promote her program , which works with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library . The goal of both programs is to provide children with one free book a month from birth to the age of 5 .
In Ohio there are 300,000 children who take part in the program , which here in Coshocton is administered through United Way . The connection was started locally in 2008 , and since then 132,000 books have been given out to Coshocton County children .
“ The Ohio Governor ’ s Imagination Library pays for over half of our invoices every month to mail books ,” said Lyn Mizer , director of United Way of Coshocton County . “ It costs $ 25 per year to sponsor a child , and anyone can do that by going to our website — coshoctonunitedway . org — or calling us at 740-622-4567 .”
DeWine said more children are enrolled in Ohio than any other state that has the Dolly Parton Imagination Library .
“ We are trying to get to 55 % by the end of January ,” she said . “ We are good , but we can do better . It ’ s important to get books into children ’ s hands early . Eighty percent of their brain is developed by the time they are 3 years old .”
When DeWine was done reading “ The Very Hungry Caterpillar ,” she gave each student in the classroom their own copy .
“ It ’ s a very colorful book ,” she said . “ Children
love it and are familiar with it . They get excited because they know what is coming next .”
DeWine said many children love getting their own mail .
“ It ’ s fun for them to get something in the mail for themselves ,” she said . “ All of the books are age appropriate and get more advanced as the children grow .”
Their first book is always “ The Little Engine That Could ,” and the last is a book about going off to kindergarten .
“ Studies show that after receiving books for three years , children were up 15 points in kindergarten readiness ,” DeWine said . “ They are starting kindergarten not behind and are much more successful .”
For more on the Ohio Governor ’ s Imagination Library , visit www . ohioimaginationlibrary . org .
Josie Sellers
Students took a picture with Fran DeWine after she read to them and presented them with books .
Josie Sellers
Students presented Fran DeWine with a card after she read to them .
Josie Sellers
First Lady Fran DeWine was in town to promote the Ohio Governor ’ s Imagination Library and stopped by to read “ The Very Hungry Caterpillar ” to Head Start students .