Earlier this week, Governor Andy Beshear, Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman and First Lady Britainy Beshear announced the statewide expansion of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.
And now, for the first time, every preschool child in Kentucky has access to the gift of reading delivered to their home, building a love of books that can last a lifetime.
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL) mails a free, age-appropriate book to children each month from birth to age 5, and has been shown to have a significant positive impact on kindergarten readiness.
The program partners with local 501(c)(3) or governmental organizations to register children in their area, and with the addition of the Kenton County Public Library in June, every community in the commonwealth is now served by a local partner.
To sign up a child, one can visit imaginationlibrary.com/kentucky. Kentuckians can also follow the Dolly Parton Imagination Library on Facebook and Instagram.
While the program has been available for more than a decade in limited areas of the state, more local partners have steadily joined since Kentucky lawmakers provided one-time matching funds in the 2021-22 state budget.
The next year, Beshear signed legislation establishing a framework for ongoing state support.
Kentucky’s first ladies have also played key roles in the Imagination Library for years. Former First Lady Jane Beshear helped launch pilot programs in Eastern Kentucky and currently serves as board chair for the statewide program.
State funding matches every dollar raised by local partners. When combined with support from the Dollywood Foundation, local partners can put high-quality books in the hands of a Kentucky child for just over $1 for each child each month. The 124 local program partners in Kentucky mailed over 112,000 books in May, meaning the program serves over 40% of the 260,000 eligible Kentucky children.
