Frequently Asked Questions

You bet. We’re a part of the Rochester Education Foundation, a registered 501(c)3 corporation. After you donate, you’ll receive an email and a thank-you letter from us documenting your gift.

Exactly 90% of your donation goes towards books and the cost of mailing them. 10% is used to keep the lights on—less than half of the average non-profit overhead. That’s how we turn $28 into a year’s worth of brand new books.

Head to our volunteer page to fill out our contact form and tell us about yourself.

You can always help us out by spreading the word on Facebook and Instagram, which drives a substantial portion of our fundraising and web traffic.

Absolutely. You can make out checks to the Rochester Education Foundation with “Imagination Library” in the memo field, and mail to:

Rochester Education Foundation 250 Mill St, Rochester Suite 400, NY 14614

If you live within the City of Rochester—defined by the bounds of the Rochester City School District—your child is eligible until he or she turns five.

As long as you stay in the Rochester area, we’ll move along with you!

If you’re moving, please send an email to mpresent@rochestereducation.org and we’ll update your address. You can also update your own address, as well as your contact information, in the Parent Information Center.

Please note that if you know you’re moving, you should update your address two months before your moving date so we have time to change the shipping label.

Several books on the annual book list have text in both English and Spanish, and the selection expands every year. In total, these bilingual books account for about a quarter of our offerings.

Unfortunately, we do not currently have books available in other languages.

Your child will receive his or her first book 8-10 weeks after signing up.

If it’s been at least three months since you signed up and you haven’t yet received a book, send us an email and we’ll get things sorted out with our friends at the USPS.

Absolutely! The more the merrier, and every child separated by at least a year in age will receive a different book from their sibling. If you have twins, sign them both up and they’ll each receive a book. Same with triplets. Quadruplets? You get the idea (and bravo).

We do! The Imagination Library provides selections in braille and audiobook formats for children with documented visual impairment. You can sign up here.