Leaders from United Way of Williams County met with Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Ohio First Lady Fran DeWine about efforts to expand the Ohio Governor’s Imagination Library (OGIL) Program statewide. Leaders from United Way of Williams County, an affiliate of the OGIL Program in Williams County, also took part in a statewide OGIL Program workshop.

The OGIL Program, funded by the Ohio legislature for two years, helps promote early childhood literacy in children from the time they are born until they turn 5 years old, by providing a new book to that child every month. The books are free to the child, with the state providing a dollar for dollar match with the local affiliate.

The OGIL Program, a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, is partnering with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library to deliver the program in Ohio. Currently, the OGIL Program is active in 54 Ohio counties. The goal is to expand the program so all eligible children in Ohio can enroll in 2020.

Williams County ranks 5th out of the counties in Ohio for eligible children enrolled in the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.