First lady Dawn Amano-Ige, along with state and non-profit partners, has expanded the ʻOhana Readers program to Kaʻū.

ʻOhana Readers is a literacy program that focuses on reading with family. Initially launched on Molokaʻi in 2019, the program offers high-quality, age-appropriate Imagination Library books each month to children in specific zip codes. Children who register for the program will receive one book each month via the U.S. Postal Service. The program operates through the Dolly Parton Imagination Library and is free of charge.

The program is now available to children under five-years-old in Nāʻālehu and Pāhala.

Families can sign up now at the Nāʻālehu Public Library and Pāhala Public & School Library. The libraries have already begun to offer programs that complement the books the children receive and will provide other activities to promote literacy and reading.

In addition to Kaʻū, ‘Ohana readers is available for families with children five years old and younger on Moloka‘i (entire island), Lānaʻi (entire island), and parts of Kauaʻi (in zip code areas 96703, 96714, 96722, 96752, 96754, and 96796). The Hawai‘i State Public Library System is encouraging families within the covered areas to register for the ‘Ohana Readers program at their branch.

The program is made possible through a collaborative partnership between the Office of the Governor, the Hawaiʻi Department of Human Services, the Hawaiʻi State Public Library System, Rep. Lynn DeCoite, and nonprofit partners Dollywood Foundation, Friends of the Library of Hawaʻi, Learning to Grow, and Read to Me International. Program sponsors also include Kamehameha Schools, Kauaʻi Island Utility Cooperative, Friends of the North Shore Library at Princeville, Windward Community College’s Learning to Grow project in partnership with the Hawai‘i State Department of Human Services through monies from the Federal Child Care and Development Block Grant, and aio. The Hawaiʻi island program is funded by aio.

Since 2019, the ʻOhana Readers program has distributed over 10,000 books to Hawaiʻi children through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. Prior to that, First Lady Dawn Amano-Ige distributed approximately 2,000 books through the Scholastic Summer Reading Ambassador program through schools across the state in Kekaha, Lāʻie, Fern, Nāʻālehu, Maunaloa, and Nānāikapono.

For more information visit, FLHhawaii.org/ohanareaders. To sign up for the program in Nāʻālehu or Pāhala, visit either the Nāʻālehu Public Library or the Pāhala Public & School Library.