An Indiana bill is threatening Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
Sometime after she wrote two of the best songs of all time in an alleged single sitting, Dolly Parton turned her talents to charming the world. She’s acted in perfect films (9 to 5), continued to make perfect country, pop, crossover, and most recently rock music, and mogul-ed up a beloved theme park in her native Pigeon Forge. All while currying a reputation for bless-your-heart bon mots and a cheeky, unapologetically high-femme persona.
TLDR; we love Dolly. The world loves Dolly. Glinda the Good Witch has nothing on the Arch-Duchess of Tennessee. But the singer-songwriter’s sweetest cultural contribution may be the Imagination Library, a literacy program she founded in 1995 under the umbrella of the Dollywood Foundation, her charitable org. Why literacy? To honor her late father, who could not read or write.
Per its mission, the Imagination Library book gifting program “mails free, high-quality books to children from birth to age five, no matter their family’s income.” And though it started in Tennessee, attempts to scale—both nationally and globally—have been pretty successful.
One can sign up for the program almost anywhere in the U.S., and 21 states participate in automatic enrollment. Thanks to Dolly, millions of books have reached children all over the world. She’s made readers in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland.
Getting free books to kids is one of those unimpeachable-looking endeavors. Or so we might have thought, before setting up shop inside 1984: The Sequel. Though the national arm of the Imagination Library has often been made sustainable by matching state contributions, this February, Indiana lawmakers snubbed the popular program in their new budget.
As James Factora reported in Them, the Imagination Library has been praised for helping increase Indiana’s child literacy ranking. The state’s contribution, which would amount “to about 0.013 percent” of Indiana’s annual budget, keeps the program running. If it’s axed, 60,000 young Hoosiers may be out of books.
As IndyStar reports, some lawmakers say “that their constituents have called them about cuts to the Imagination Library more than about any other cut to the state budget.” House Democrats attempted a Hail-Mary-via-amendment to fund the program, but this failed in the legislature. Given a conservative majority determined to defund the government, now the ball is in the governor’s court.
Governor Mike Braun has tasked his wife, the first lady Maureen Braun, with securing funding opportunities. This was welcome news to the Dollywood Foundation, though exact funding streams remain unclear. And meanwhile, the state’s triumph comes as a larger blow to public-private philanthropic partnerships. A crucial if contestable aid model and actual lifeline for many Americans.
We wouldn’t bet against Dolly and her beloved program, should this battle come for other states. But in the meantime, legislatures? We’re begging of you, please don’t take our books.
