LAKEPORT, Calif. – Imagination is powerful, and reading is its fuel.

That’s why every baby born at Sutter Lakeside Hospital is signed up to receive one free book a month for five years from the Imagination Library.

So far, more than 24,308 books have been distributed to families throughout Lake County.

The Family Birth Center, which averages more than 300 births a year, gives every family a chance to sign up for the Imagination Library, a nonprofit organization that encourages literacy at home by sending age-appropriate books to the child once a month.

The program is funded by the Sutter Lakeside Hospital Auxiliary and the Lake County Office of Education, at no cost to the families who receive the books.

Childhood literacy develops within the first five years of life, according to research on early childhood development.

Access to age-appropriate books is essential to literacy, yet low-income areas have access to only one book per 300 children, according to literacy research.

Reading at home not only improves academic performance later on, it also strengthens family bonds.

“Healthy living is about more than just medicine,” said Dan Peterson, chief administrative officer, Sutter Lakeside Hospital. “Families spending time together, encouraging literacy, supports emotional health. We’re proud to partner with the Auxiliary and the Lake County Office of Education to bring this service to Lake County.”

The Imagination Library, founded by Dolly Parton in 1995, has provided more than 80 million books to children internationally.

Lake County is one of 1,600 communities to participate in the Imagination Library, which reaches more than one million children in a month.

Other benefits of the Family Birth Center include four private suites for labor and delivery, in-room sleeping accommodations for family members, private bathrooms with showers or shower-tubs, and in-room dining service.

For more information or to schedule a tour of the Family Birth Center, please call 707-262-5087. To schedule a prenatal appointment with a care provider, please call 707-263-6885.

Morgen Wells is community relations and fund development coordinator for Sutter Lakeside Hospital.