On the last Friday of each month, We Are the World Blogfest invites bloggers to join together in promoting positive news. If you would like to join in, please check out the rules and links below.

A statement of mission from the We are the World Blogfest website:

“There are many an oasis of love and light out there, stories that show compassion and the resilience of the human spirit. Sharing these stories increases our awareness of hope in our increasingly dark world.”

The co-hosts for this month are Belinda Witzenhausen,  Sylvia McGrath, Sylvia Stein,  Shilpa Garg, Eric Lahti . Please pop over to their blogs to read their stories, comment and share.

This month I am sharing a story of Dolly Parton and the 100 millionth book she has given away through her non-profit Imagination Library.

According to the article by Helena Andrews-Dyer in the Washington Post Dolly Parton Likes to Give Away Books. She just donated her 100 millionth.

The article states that

“Parton is the founder of Imagination Library, a nonprofit that started out donating books in Sevier County, Tenn., and grew into a million-book-a-month operation. Families who sign up receive a book per month from birth to kindergarten. The singer donated her organization’s 100 millionth book to the nation’s library on Tuesday.”

Knowing the enormous potential that books and reading have for changing lives by improving the chances of success, not just in school, but in life, I couldn’t go past sharing this inspiring article, especially when International Children’s Book Day is celebrated in a few days on 2 April.

Click to read the whole article in the Washington Post.

Here are the guidelines for #WATWB:

1. Keep your post to Below 500 words, as much as possible.

2. Link to a human news story on your blog, one that shows love, humanity, and brotherhood. Paste in an excerpt and tell us why it touched you. The Link is important, because it actually makes us look through news to find the positive ones to post.

3. No story is too big or small, as long as it Goes Beyond religion and politics, into the core of humanity.

4. Place the WE ARE THE WORLD badge or banner on your Post and your Sidebar. Some of you have already done so, this is just a gentle reminder for the others.

5. Help us spread the word on social media. Feel free to tweet, share using the #WATWB hashtag to help us trend!

Tweets, Facebook shares, Pins, Instagram, G+ shares using the #WATWB hashtag through the month most welcome. We’ll try and follow and share all those who post on the #WATWB hashtag, and we encourage you to do the same.

Click here to join in and enter the link to your post. The bigger the #WATWB group each month, the greater the joy!

Thank you for reading. I appreciate your comments. Please share your thoughts.