The Imagination Library Embraces a Season of Growth While Inspiring a Love of Reading This Fall

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library kicks off the fall season by celebrating fresh milestones in its expansion efforts and promoting positive reading habits with an imaginative lineup of autumn books!

Dolly’s book-gifting program has now gifted over 251 million books to children across the U.S., Canada, UK, Australia and the Republic of Ireland. As we embark upon the fall season, the Imagination Library continues to inspire more children around the world to Dream More, Learn More, Care More and Be More!^TM

Dolly Visits Statewide Celebrations in Missouri and Kentucky

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) welcomed Dolly to Missouri on August 27 to celebrate the success of her Imagination Library. This Statewide Imagination Library Celebration followed last November's announcement that every child in Missouri is now eligible to participate in the program, receiving one free, high-quality, age-appropriate book per month until their fifth birthday.

Out of all the statewide programs, no other state has launched a fully funded program with all children under age five eligible from the very first day of the statewide rollout.

On the same day, Dolly visited Kentucky, where Governor Andy Beshear and First Lady Britainy Beshear welcomed her to celebrate Kentucky’s success in expanding the program to every county in the commonwealth.

More than 500 local Imagination Library program partners, library staff, literacy advocates, and others who contributed to the expansion gathered at the historic Lyric Theatre in downtown Lexington. They heard inspiring words from Dolly and celebrated this major milestone. Now, every child in Kentucky can receive one free book per month, from birth to age 5, ensuring they can build their own at-home library before starting kindergarten.

Milestones and Expansion in the UK

In July, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library celebrated a significant milestone with its authority-wide expansion in East Riding of Yorkshire, UK, made possible by a £500,000 investment from the East Riding of Yorkshire Council. Now, all children in East Riding are eligible to receive FREE books each month from birth to age five!

The celebration continued into August, when the Imagination Library gifted its 6 millionth book in the UK! This achievement was made possible by the support of over 435 incredible organizations across the country. Thanks to these local partners and supporters, the Imagination Library is making a lasting impact by inspiring a love of reading in children throughout the UK.

Autumn Books to Spark Imagination

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is dedicated to inspiring a love of reading and learning by gifting books, free of charge, to families via funding shared by Dolly and local community partners. Autumn is a wonderful time of year to spark the imagination by spending more time reading! Here are a few of the specially selected, age-appropriate books going out to registered children this fall.

Red Sky at Night

"Red Sky at Night" is a memorable collection of weather sayings, beautifully arranged in story form and illustrated by renowned paper artist Elly MacKay. #DollysLibrary #CanadaBook #ReadOnCanada

Who Says Quack?

Turn the pages of this adorable board book, perfect for little fingers, as your baby guesses the sound each animal makes!

The Artist

Perfect for bedtime reading, this witty picture book by Ed Vere is a joyful and inspirational celebration of beauty, mistakes and the artist in all of us.

New to the Imagination Library?

Check availability in your area to register a child, sign up to receive a notification when the Imagination Library becomes available to you or learn more about how to Start A Program in your area.