History of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

Educators stress that reading with your pre-school child is the single-most important activity to prepare a child for school.  Dolly Parton created her Imagination Library to guarantee access to books and to inspire parents to read to their children as much as possible.

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is all about inspiration and imagination.  It was developed in 1995 by Dolly for her native Sevier County, Tennessee.  Dolly wanted every pre-school child to have his/her own collection of books.  After much thought, Dolly decided to offer her Imagination Library for replication in any community that can financially support it.

Each month, from the day the child is born until his/her fifth birthday, a carefully selected book arrives at the mailbox.  Kids across the country have shared the excitement of running to the mailbox to retrieve their book. More often than not, the child wants the book read to them now—not later, not tonight and not tomorrow.  Right now!

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a gift to all children. The Imagination Library is currently at work in 1,500 communities in the United States, in Canada and the U.K, and distributes over 900,000 books per month in the U.S. alone.  Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a unique opportunity to do something simple and powerful for pre-schoolers.  

By inspiring parents to read to their children, we can help them       

Dream More, Learn More, Care More and Be More!

Learn more about Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library at www.imaginationlibrary.com.