Join us in the celebration of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library achieving statewide availability in Arkansas, including a brief musical performance by Parton and an interview. Since 2017, Arkansas Imagination Library has worked with local communities to grow the program from 54 to all 75 counties. As a result, the number of children receiving books each month has grown from 16,700 in 2017 to over 56,800 children. Since 2005, more than 3 million books have been gifted to Arkansas children by independent affiliates.
The livestream of this event will happen on Thursday, May 5, beginning at approximately 6:30 p.m. at myarpbs.org/imaginationlibraryevent. You can also stream it live in the player below!
About Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library:
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, the flagship program of The Dollywood Foundation, has become the preeminent early childhood book-gifting program in the world. In partnership with local community affiliates, the program has gifted well over 178 million free books in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and The Republic of Ireland.
Inspired by her father’s inability to read and write, Dolly Parton started her Imagination Library in 1995 to foster a love of reading for the children within her home county. Today, her program mails over 2 million high-quality, age-appropriate books each month directly to children’s homes. Each child enrolled in the program receives one book per month until their fifth birthday – at no cost to families.
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.