A county-wide book donation program has ballooned beyond expectations in its first year and now serves 610 children.

The Imagination Library, brought to the community by the Cortez Rotary Club, sends children 5 years old and younger a free book every month.

The program has reached double the number of children normally expected for a launch year by the national sponsors.

The Imagination Library was started by Dolly Parton, as part of the Dollywood Foundation.

The program is free to all children younger than 5, and the club spends $25 a year on each child to help pay for shipping their books.

The chairman of the club, Shane Hale, said the county health department was “really the lightening rod for promotion.”

The supervisor of the Nurse Family Partnership at the health department, Bobbi Lock, said the program was a good fit for her program, which serves first-time mothers who have an income below 200 percent of the poverty level.

She said that her program encourages mothers to read to their children because it develops language skills and a long-term love of reading.

“If you can establish an enjoyment at young age, it’s amazing how these little toddlers will pick up a book and want you to read it to them,” she said.

Lock said many kids also come to the program through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. The Imagination Library does not have income eligibility requirements.

Hale said the program isn’t meant to replace local libraries, but to give children books that they can read over and over again.

To enroll a child or make a donation, contact Hale at 531-9592.