FAIRBANKS , Alaska — Although there were no roosters, the North Star Imagination Library Family Fun Night, "Which Came First: The Chicken or the Book?" is something to crow about.
A chicken story, of course, kicked off the Thursday night event, read by librarian Susan Jones. And children crafted flamboyant chicken hats from paper plates, multi-colored feathers and crayons, and enjoyed a light meal with their families.
But Sweetie Bird, an Ameraucana chicken, won the hearts of its young audience.
The gentle hen sat patiently on her owner's lap as youngsters lined up for an opportunity to touch or pat her richly hued red, black and teal feathers.
Sweetie Bird's owner, Mara Bacsujlaky, a Cooperative Extension community development agent, also showed larger-than-life chicken slides and talked about her chickens' favorite foods and how they spend winter in a chicken coop.
The family-oriented program is just one way the NSIL attempts to attract and sign up children ages birth-5 years to receive a free book monthly through the mail.
Imagination Library was started by Dolly Parton in her home county of Sevier, Tennessee, in 1996, when the famous country singer decided to gift every child from birth to age 5 with a free book each month — 60 books in all.
"She grew up dirt poor, and she wanted to give something back," said Russ Wagner, who hails from Tennessee and is treasurer of the local North Star Imagination Library board of directors.
Parton's philanthropic example spread across Tennessee, the country and internationally.
The Imagination Library was brought to Fairbanks by Russ's wife, Nancy Wagner, former Fairbanks North Star Borough school superintendent, now retired, and launched via a partnership of Communities in Schools of Alaska, Best Beginnings and Fairbanks Early Childhood Commission.
North Star Imagination Library began registering children in March 2008 and today counts 3,374 children younger than 5 receiving a monthly book. That's about half of the estimated children in the age range eligible to be enrolled in the program.
From May 2008 through March 2011, 89,078 books have been purchased for children in the Fairbanks North Star Borough. In that same time period, 1,527 children who participated in the program are now older than 5 years old.
All of the work is done by North Star Imagination Library community volunteers.
Tennessee is the only state where children have 100 percent access to Imagination Libraries, adding that Alaska is not far behind, at 90 percent, Russ said.
"If Alaska gets 100 percent coverage, Dolly will come and visit," Russ said.
The local Imagination Library is funded through grants, donations, local sponsors and fundraisers.
The third annual North Star Imagination Library and PTA Council sponsored Read-A-Thon started in district elementary schools Wednesday and will continue through March 6. Classes in each school read and compete to win a pizza party and children are encouraged to collect pledges on the number of minutes they read during the read-a-thon.
The first book received by children registered at any age is the classic "The Little Engine that Could," Russ said.
Succeeding books sent out are age-appropriate and reading to children from infancy to school age reaps multiple rewards for both parents and children.
Volunteer Emily Vockeroth said books that are not deliverable are returned by the post office and distributed in the borough at enrollment events, waiting rooms, child care programs and in Red Cross packages.
"Public health nurses are also taking them out to villages," Vockeroth said.