Dolly Parton's Imagination Library
About Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
Since launching in 1995, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has become the preeminent early childhood book-gifting program in the world. The flagship program of The Dollywood Foundation, a 501©(3) non-profit organization, has gifted well over 182 million free books in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and The Republic of Ireland. The Imagination Library mails more than 2 million high-quality, age-appropriate books each month to enrolled children from birth to age five. Dolly envisioned creating a lifelong love of reading, inspiring children to dream more, learn more, care more, and be more. The impact of the program has been widely researched and results suggest positive increases in key early childhood literacy metrics. Penguin Random House is the exclusive publisher for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. For more information, please visit imaginationlibrary.com.
The Louisa County libraries – Columbus Junction Public Library, Keck Memorial Library, Letts Public Library, and Mellinger Memorial Library – as well as their counterparts at the Mediapolis Public Library and Winfield Public Library are pleased to announce the addition of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to their suite of services, beginning July 2022. The addition of this service ensures the youngest of all library patrons, those birth-age 5, are able to build a home library of high-quality books, develop a love of reading at an early age, and begin kindergarten ready to read with positive book experiences.
This partnership and project would not be possible without community partners’ support. We would like to thank the Dollar General Youth Literacy Fund, the Community Foundation of Louisa County, and Tri-Oak for supporting the project from its inception and allowing us to begin serving our communities in this way. Donations toward continued sponsorship of this program can be made at your local library, directly to the Friends of the Columbus Junction Library (232 Second Street, Columbus Jct, IA 52738), or by visiting our affiliate page on the Dolly Parton Imagination Library website and clicking the PayPal Donate Now button.
Interested parents and guardians can visit https://imaginationlibrary.com/check-availability/ to enter their zip code and proceed to the registration page. One registration should be completed for each eligible child. Parents are also able to choose the specific language their books should arrive in. Children will automatically age out of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library the month prior to their 5th birthday and will receive a final book congratulating them on graduating on to kindergarten. We are so very excited to build a love of reading through this wonderful program.