Books for Babies

In April, we launched our Books for Babies program, in partnership with our local hospital.

It’s clear that children who have a book rich environment have much higher success in school, and research shows that the importance of reading to children begins at birth.

Now every baby born at Pikeville Medical Center will receive a Books for Babies goody bag from the Pike County Public Library District. This free gift acquaints parents of newborns with the important role they play in the development of their children and contains a board book, baby’s first library card, and a variety of brochures with reading tips and early literacy information from nationally-recognized educational organizations. Also included is information on how to register for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library program and the library's 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten initiative.

This partnership ensures every child born immediately has a book and free access to more books! By reading to their babies and by becoming regular library users themselves, parents help their children develop language skills and start them on the path to success in reading and learning.

Our first round of kits were purchased from United for Libraries already put together, and we added our Imagination Library brochures and 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten handout. However, in the future, our bags will be assembled in house.