Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Celebrates Significant Milestone, Now Gifting Over 2 Million Books Each Month
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library soars into summer by celebrating significant milestones in early childhood literacy, while inspiring children to love to read with an imaginative selection of summer books!
Dolly’s childhood literacy program has gifted over 184 million books to children across the U.S., Canada, UK, Australia and the Republic of Ireland. As we enter into summer, the Imagination Library continues to inspire more children around the world to Dream More, Learn More, Care More and Be More®!
Celebrating 2 Million Books Each Month!
Thanks to over 2,800 local affiliates around the world who are dedicated to inspiring a love of reading by gifting books to children, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has reached an amazing milestone which, at one time, seemed like only a dream.
As of June 2022, there are over 2 million children enrolled in Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. That means the Imagination Library is now gifting over 2 MILLION BOOKS to children around the world each and every month — that’s 1 book every 1.4 seconds!
This is truly incredible, as after launching in 1995, it took 21 years to reach the milestone of 1 million children enrolled in the program. Now, in only five years and six months, enrollment has doubled, with over 2 million children enrolled in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library around the world.
Dolly Visits Imagination Library Statewide Celebrations
On May 5, Dolly traveled across the country to visit the statewide celebrations of her Imagination Library in Delaware and Arkansas. Capping each appearance with a special musical performance, Dolly arrived in-person to congratulate these states on the significant achievement of full statewide coverage and on the eligibility of every child under five to enroll in her Imagination Library. The events were broadcast live on YouTube and Facebook, and you can catch Dolly’s appearances at the celebrations by watching the replays, now available to stream online.
Summertime 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. Summer is a wonderful time of year to spark the imagination, not only by spending more time playing, but also by spending more time reading! Here are a few of the specially selected, age-appropriate books going out to registered children this summer.
Blue Sky White Stars
From the view of the Statue of Library at Ellis Island to civil rights marchers shoulder to shoulder, beautifully rich paintings illustrate American history in "Blue Sky White Stars," written by Sarvinder Naberhaus with illustrations by Kadir Nelson.
Natsumi's Song of Summer
This sweet and gentle picture book, written by Robert Paul Weston and illustrated by Misa Saburi, celebrates summer in Japan, as one little girl shares her love for bugs with her cousin who is visiting from America.
Pass It On
When you laugh or smile – pass it on! Here's a heartwarming story about giving, sharing and joy, written and illustrated by Sophy Henn.
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.
