Sep 21, 2015 3 min read

September is bringing a lot of good news to the Briggs family, which they hope will help improve literacy rates in Washington and Greene counties.

For the last five years, the Briggs family of Washington has been working as a local affiliate of Dolly Parton’s program called Imagination Library that works to give free books every month to children from birth until they reach the age of 5.

With the approval this month of nonprofit status as the Briggs Family Foundation, their reading program called “Read With Me Railway” will now operate under its own foundation.

“With this switch, we will now be able to receive more outside sources for financial support,” said Denise Briggs, who is the primary contact for the foundation.

This month marked 100,000 books given to children in Washington and Greene counties through their program.

“We really never imagined that it would get this big this fast,” Briggs said. “We never anticipated this kind of growth, but we are thrilled.”

“Read With Me Railway” is a free program that any family can sign up for that distributes age-appropriate books once a month to children from birth to kindergarten.

The first book the child receives is “The Little Engine That Could” and the last book he or she receives is “Look Out Kindergarten Here I Come.”

The books distributed in between change each year and are chosen to fit the child’s reading level.

“Our goal is to promote early childhood literacy and reading,” Briggs said. “We continue to have great support from families in this area.”

With between 150 and 200 families signing up for the program every month, despite no advertising, Briggs said it’s clear the program is working.

“It’s all due to the power of the program and the power of reading,” Briggs said. “It’s pretty much working on its own through word of mouth.”

With both of these advancements, the foundation hopes to expand the reading program and incorporate as many families from Washington and Greene counties as they can. They also hope the approval of classification as a non-profit will help them find outside funding for the foundation.

“Financially, we have been the primary supporters up to this point, but there is a limit to what we can do,” Briggs said. “We are hoping to be able to maintain the program and find some outside support to grow it even bigger.”

To sign up for the “Read With Me Railway” program or to learn more about the Briggs Family Foundation, call 724-267-3398 or go to www.readwithmerailway.org.