Following a week of programs and activities during National Library Week, April 15-21, more than 120 guests helped celebrate the Blount County Public Library’s 5^th birthday in its new facility on Saturday, April 21.

Joy Bishop, Chair of the library’s Board of Trustees, presented the first annual Champion of the Library Award to the Kiwanis Club of Maryville for their outstanding contributions to Imagination Library. State Representative Doug Overbey was also on hand to honor the club with a formal Proclamation issued by the House of the state legislature. Mike Morrell, President of the Kiwanis Club, accepted the honors on behalf of club members.

The Champion of the Library Award is the library’s highest honor, in recognition " . . . of an individual or group with extraordinary contributions to the library, library services, or the cause of literacy and to the perpetuation of the library as a distinctive educational, community, and cultural asset." A committee made up of representatives from the three library boards (the Trustees, the Foundation, and the Friends of the Library) recommended the Kiwanis Club of Maryville as the 2007 recipient of the award.

Also included in the Gala event program was Kathy Pagles, Director of the Library, who provided the audience with a summary of library highlights for the last five years.

The evening began with a Gala reception hosted by David and Marty Black at Preservation Plaza in downtown Maryville followed by dinner and program at the library. Hosts for the evening were the Board of Directors, Foundation for the Blount County Library.

During National Library Week, a variety of special events and activities were sponsored at the library by the three library boards and the library staff. Programs throughout the week included

In 1996 and through her Foundation, Imagination Library was initiated by Dolly Parton and was originally implemented to benefit preschool children and their families in Sevier County, Tennessee. The program fosters a love of reading through increased access to books and reading time between parents and child. Regardless of family income, each registered child receives an age appropriate book each month until the child turns 5. A parent or legal guardian must register their children. If a child is registered at birth, he/she will have a personal library of 60 books when they enter Kindergarten. This includes 10 books that are printed in both Spanish and English. Since its inception, Imagination Library has grown to hundreds of communities throughout the United States and Canada. Blount County, for example, has registered over 3,800 children as part of its program.

In order to become a part of Imagination Library, the program must be accessible to all preschool children in their area. The community pays for the books and mailing, promotes the program, registers the children, and enters the information into the database. The Dollywood Foundation manages the system to deliver the books to the home.

Governor Bredeson set aside $2 million to pay one half of the costs associated with establishing Imagination Library in each of Tennessee’s counties. The Blount County Library and the Maryville Kiwanis Club have provided local community leadership. The Club made the commitment to raise the other half of funds needed for ongoing implementation and has played a significant role in promoting the program and registering children. Major contributors in Blount County have been:

The Blount County Public Library is located at 508 N. Cusick Street, Maryville.

For further information about other library programs or services, call the library at 982-0981.

To print a one-page monthly calendar of events at the library, go to the library Web site at www.blountlibrary.org, click on "Programs and Events" and then click on "Click here to view the monthly calendar of events in printable format" or sign up to receive a monthly calendar by email by scrolling down and clicking on libnews@blounttn.org and putting "subscribe" in the subject line.