Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. In 1995, Dolly Parton launched the Imagination Library, which mails a book each month free of charge to children under the age of five, starting in Tennessee. The Imagination Library is currently located in five countries and is supported through funding shared by the Dollywood Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and local community partners in those countries. Local affiliates can be businesses, school districts, small or large organizations, or individuals.
The Dollywood Foundation covers overhead and administrative expenses, including negotiating wholesale pricing for the books and coordinating the monthly mailings. Local affiliates and partners are responsible for enrolling children who live in the geographical area, promoting their local programs, and covering the costs of the books and shipping fees. Books are free to enrolled children and their families, regardless of income. The age-appropriate books are selected by early childhood literacy experts.
Washington's Imagination Library Program. In 2022, the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF), in coordination with the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), was directed, subject to appropriations, to select a Washington State-based qualified 501(c)(3) non-profit organization to create and operate the Imagination Library of Washington Program. The selected nonprofit organization must establish local affiliate programs across the state.
The selected nonprofit organization must submit an annual report to the Legislature and the Governor including the number of affiliate programs, the number of children enrolled in each affiliate program, and the number of children enrolled statewide.
The selected nonprofit organization must provide payment to the national nonprofit foundation that equals 50 percent of the cost to provide books to eligible children enrolled in the program. Each local affiliate program must provide payment that equals the remaining cost to provide books to eligible children enrolled in the program. Eligible children means children from birth to age five.
Nothing requires that state funding be provided to the selected nonprofit organization or the program. DCYF may seek and accept gifts, grants, or endowments from public or private sources for the program and may spend any gifts, grants, or endowments or income from public or private sources on the program according to their terms.
The state operating budget appropriated state funding of $1 million in fiscal year 2024 and $1.5 million in fiscal year 2025, one-time, for the program.
Early Literacy Program. The 2023-25 operating budget provided $600,000 for the biennium for DCYF to contract with a nonprofit entity experienced in the provision of promoting early literacy for children through pediatric office visits.
The Imagination Library of Washington program is transferred from DCYF to OSPI.
Subject to appropriations, OSPI must contract with a nonprofit entity experienced in the provision of promoting early literacy for children through pediatric office visits.
The committee recommended a different version of the bill than what was heard. PRO: Early literacy and developing a love of reading is incredibly important for young children because of their developing brains. The Imagination Library program is currently serving 120,000 children and families throughout the state. Both DCYF and OSPI agree that this shift makes the most sense, and the transition is a natural and logical fit. Imagination Library is an education investment because it helps with school readiness and kindergarten preparedness. This program isn't just about buying books; it is about preventing future costs. Early literacy boosts test scores.
PRO: Aligning early literacy and K-12 makes sense. It helps promote early literacy in Washington. When children have access to high quality early literacy they arrive in school ready to learn. A book each month is one of the most effective tools we have to promote early literacy, support parents as their first teachers and create a foundation for school readiness. The Imagination Library is fundamentally an early literacy and kindergarten readiness initiative and OSPI is the state agency already charged with advancing these outcomes. For many of the children that are enrolled, these are the first books they own. Providers and preschool teachers report higher engagement and better vocabulary among students in the program. This bill does not change how the program works for families, it strengthens the system behind it.