MOSCOW MILLS — As a new resident to Moscow Mills, one of the first places Leslie Stephens wanted to check out was the closest library for her two toddler boys.

"We read constantly," said Stephens, mom to Kailer, 2, and Maximos, 1. So she was shocked and disappointed when she learned that Lincoln County has no public library system.

"I just thought, 'How is this possible?'" she said.

Limited access to libraries was one of the reasons for the launch of a new program that began Monday for those in the Troy, Mo., school district. A $25,000 grant from the United Way of Greater St. Louis has established an affiliate of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, giving kids 5 and under a new book delivered to their home each month for free. Any child can participate regardless of their parents' income.

United Way recognizes the connection between regular exposure to books and literacy and kindergarten readiness, officials said. The organization partnered with the Parents As Teachers program in Troy to enroll children at an event Monday. Kids took home "The Little Engine That Could" as their first book in the program. The second will arrive in the mail in six to eight weeks.

"I think it's wonderful and a way to get kids excited about reading," said April Wade, who signed up her 4-year-old, Addie, and 1-year-old, Edward, on Monday at the Eagle Fork Pumpkin Patch in Moscow Mills. "What little kid doesn't like getting mail?"

Lincoln is one of only three counties in the state without a public library system. The others — Ozark and Taney — have a smaller population than Lincoln, which has an estimated 53,000 residents. The school district in Troy has grown by more than 1,000 students in the last five years.

Almost half of the children age 3-5 in the U.S. are rarely read aloud to or not at all, according to The National Center for Education Statistics. Kids who have not developed basic literacy skills by the time they enter school are three to four times likely to drop out in later years, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

Work to establish a public library system in Lincoln County has been happening since the 1960s. A 1964 vote to establish a public library system failed by six votes. The fourth and most recent time the issue was on the ballot was April, when the proposed 14-cent tax increase was rejected by nearly 59 percent of voters. The money would have been used to develop a library along Highway 61 in the Troy-Moscow Mills area.

But the library board is not giving up. Members continue to meet monthly and hope to put the issue on the ballot again in November 2010, if the economy turns around, President Sarah Hunt said.

Two small libraries in Troy and Elsberry are not connected and cannot meet the needs of the entire county, she said. Many families in Moscow Mills and Troy pay $80 a year to use a St. Charles City-County Library District branch in Wentzville.

The Palmer Library in Elsberry is not tax-based. Cardholders do not have access to interlibrary loans, and there is a $1,500 quarterly budget for books. The Powell Memorial Library is located in the Troy school district's administration building. It has a small collection available to those within the school district.

Growing up in the rural hills of Tennessee before she became a country music star, Parton began the Imagination Library in 1996. Since then, 950 communities have used the program, giving 496,000 children nearly 5.5 million books.

Parents within the Troy school district who want to enroll their children in the Imagination Library program can call the Early Childhood Education Center at 636-462-3020.