KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Knox County will honor the nurses at the Childbirth Center at Parkwest Medical Center Monday at 12:30 p.m.
Imagination Library officials said that aside from online registrations, the nurses at Parkwest are their number-one registration partners.
The nurses at the Childbirth Center at Parkwest will be honored with the Seeds of Imagination Literacy Award.
"COVID-19 has made nursing jobs more demanding and dangerous, and yet these nurses continue to provide their patients with the upmost care and resources amid these uncertain times," officials said. Labor and delivery nurses’ impact extends beyond the hospital. By helping parents register their babies for Imagination Library before they’re discharged, these nurses ensure that infants born in their hospitals have access to books from the very beginning.
Children registered at birth will receive 60 books before they graduate at age five, according to a press release.
Here is why it's so important to read to newborns:
- At birth, children have most of the neurons they will ever have
- Reading aloud stimulates language and cognitive development before a child can talk
- The number of neurons doubles in size by the first year
- By age three, the brain has reached 80% of its adult volume
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program is responsible for registering children, reaching out to families, and raising money to support the program.