Dolly Parton's literacy program to continue and needs NWA support
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Dolly Parton in 2018. Photo: Shannon Finney/Getty Images
The Arkansas branch of Dolly Parton's children's literacy program is continuing after the star's death, but Northwest Arkansas needs a local organization to help raise money.
Why it matters: The Arkansas Imagination Library utilizes local partners — typically by county — to help cover the costs of books for children under 5.
Zoom in: United Way of Northwest Arkansas was the local partner for Benton, Washington and Madison counties and had to stop about two years ago. The organization has had a hard time finding a group to take on Benton and Washington counties, two of the most populous counties, Arkansas Imagination Library development director Sara Drew told Axios.
- NWA has the lowest uptake of the program in the state, with 17% of children under 5 in Benton and Washington counties enrolled compared with 45% statewide, according to data shared with Axios.
How it works: Outside of the Dollywood Foundation's contributions, about half of the funding in Arkansas comes from the state's Department of Education, Drew said.
- The Dollywood Foundation covers overhead and administrative expenses and coordinates book selection, fulfillment and shipping. Because of the foundation's partnerships with publishers, the books cost state branches and local partners $2.60 each, which local partners help sponsor and fundraise to cover.
- Children receive a book in the mail monthly.
- All children under 5 in foster care in Arkansas are also automatically enrolled, Drew said.
State of play: Arkansas approved $1.5 million for the program in the state's education budget for fiscal year 2026-27.
What they're saying: "The Imagination Library is never going away," Drew said. The program will seek other funding if its current sources are ever cut.
The latest: The Arkansas Imagination Library has enrolled nearly 5,000 more participants in the week after Parton's death on Aug. 25, likely because of more awareness about the program, Drew said.
Flashback: Parton started the Imagination Library in 1995 in her home state, Tennessee, inspired by having grown up with an illiterate father in a poor, rural area where some lacked access to education.
- The program expanded to Arkansas in 2005. A partnership with the state in 2017 helped the program reach 54 counties before coming to all 75 counties a few years later.
What's next: The Arkansas Imagination Library is actively working to make sure all children under 5 whose parents are incarcerated get enrolled, Drew said.
- Ideally, the state will eventually have a program that allows parents to enroll their newborns as part of the birth certificate paperwork process, as Ohio's Imagination Library does, but funding isn't currently available for that, she said.