My First Books South Carolina

Program Overview

My First Books South Carolina is a pre-reading, school readiness program for children from birth to age five, developed to ensure all children in South Carolina enter kindergarten with basic literacy skills essential to successfully advancing to first grade and beyond.

It is a book-by-mail program that has proven to improve school readiness, school performance, and family literacy. Eligible children are enrolled in the program by their parents and then receive a brand new, developmentally appropriate book in the mail each month until the age of five, at no cost to the family.

Books, selected by a national panel of literacy experts, include popular titles such as The Little Engine That Could, Madeline, and Corduroy, plus many, many more. They feature vivid illustrations that are especially helpful to parents with limited reading skills.

Parent education tips are printed in each book to provide ideas for parent-child reading interactions. My First Books South Carolina also holds fun Family Literacy events to encourage parents to read to their children at least 15 minutes a day and to introduce or reinforce essential pre-reading skills.

Student and Volunteer Success Stories

"Here I go dreaming big again - I'm thrilled to be working with Palmetto Project to make the Imagination Library available to every preschool child in South Carolina!" ~ country music mega-star Dolly Parton