Dollywood and Abramorama in association with The Dollywood Foundation have partnered to release The Library That Dolly Built, a behind-the-scenes look at Dolly Parton’s literacy-focused nonprofit, Imagination Library. The one-night event will be integrated with Imagination Library affiliate partners in multiple communities around the country and is set for screenings in ove 325 locations on Thursday, April 2, 2020 from 7 pm - 8:30 pm at Regal Biltmore Grande. 

Dolly Parton created the Imagination Library to inspire a love for books and reading among the nation’s preschool children. Since its inception in 1995, the Imagination Library has gifted more than 135 million books to children and is currently gifting books to 1.45 million children around the world each month. Imagination Library affiliates who are screening the film will receive 50% of box office proceeds to further their year-round efforts.

Visit our website or Facebook events page to find out more.

Volunteer Program Assistant --- Adult Literacy

The Adult Literacy program provides free, one-on-one, basic literacy tutoring and high school equivalency preparation for English-speaking adults. The Volunteer Program Assistant would work closely with the Adult Literacy Director to manage program resources. Tasks may include preparation of materials for lesson plans, cutting and sorting sound and syllable cards, making photocopies, organizing kids’ games and activities, and arranging library books. Strong organizational skills and attention to detail are essential.  Hours are flexible. Prefer someone who can commit to volunteering weekly, three or more hours per week. For more information, call Rebecca Massey at 828-254-3442 x202 or email at rebecca@litcouncil.com.


Volunteer DPIL Assistants --- Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library

The Literacy Council of Buncombe County is a Buncombe County affiliate site for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, a free book-gifting program for children from birth until their fifth birthday. This incredible program gives a huge head start to children before kindergarten by delivering free, age-appropriate books to children’s homes each month. We strive to reach low-income households in Buncombe County to ensure families with the highest need have age-appropriate books for their young children. We are looking for volunteers to help us in our mission to reach high-needs families across Buncombe County through outreach such as delivering brochures to community centers, elementary schools, and faith organizations, and by attending public events for on-site enrollments. Reliable transportation is required and hours are flexible. For more information, call Emily Spies at 828-245-3442 x204 or email at volunteers@litcouncil.com.

Sign up for two-part racial equity workshops at the Literacy Council, brought to you by Rainbow Institute.

Our community is filled with people and organizations doing a variety of things to make people’s lives better. They are all important. But sometimes helping can also hurt. That’s especially true when we ignore the ways our differences impact our interactions. Rainbow Institute’s social justice workshops focus on naming our differences, honoring our differences, and creating space to explore how we can use a deeper understanding of those differences to move toward more equitable communities.

We center and talk explicitly about race as a social construct, and as an analysis to break through other forms of inequity. Participants come out with a language for these difficult conversations, an understanding of implicit bias and how it shows up, and a framework for how we begin to disrupt harmful ways of helping.

“Justice is what love looks like in public.”- Dr. Cornell West

There are two two-part workshops available:

Part one: Monday, March 30 @ 5:30 pm

Part two: Monday, April 6 @ 5:30 pm

Part one: Saturday, April 18 @ 10 am

Part two: Saturday, April 25 @10 am

Seating is limited. Please RSVP to Erin at 828-254-3442 x201

Workshops will take place at the Literacy Council of Buncombe County:

31 College Place, Suite B-221

Asheville, NC 28801