Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Chairman Bo Watson have pledged for the state to pick up the local cost of Dolly Parton‘s Imagination Library, to include it as part of Tennessee’s budget for 2027.
If the proposal is approved during the state budgeting process, the state would cover the costs that participating counties typically handle, funding 100% of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in Tennessee beginning next year.
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Since launching in 1995, Parton’s Imagination Library has gifted more than 300 million books, at no cost, to 3 million-plus children around the world. The program provides free books each month to children up to age 5. According to a release, as of 2025, nearly 70% of Tennessee children are enrolled in Parton’s Imagination Library program.
“Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is one of Tennessee’s greatest gifts to the next generation,” Sexton said in a statement. “What started in Tennessee is now in all 50 states. Millions of children have been inspired and discovered a love of reading because of Dolly. There is no better way to honor her extraordinary legacy than to ensure every single Tennessee child, in every county and in every community, continues to have access to the Imagination Library for generations to come.”
“Doing whatever is necessary to improve early literacy has always been a top priority of mine,” Watson added. “Dolly Parton has always been a pioneer in the movement to improve children’s lives through books and reading, and she has left a lasting legacy on the country. We are honored to continue the work she started through her Imagination Library.”
The Imagination Library was inspired by Parton’s father. “Before he passed away, my Daddy told me the Imagination Library was probably the most important thing I had ever done,” Parton previously wrote in a statement on the Imagination Library site. “I can’t tell you how much that meant to me because I created the Imagination Library as a tribute to my Daddy. He was the smartest man I have ever known but I know in my heart his inability to read probably kept him from fulfilling all of his dreams. Inspiring kids to love to read became my mission.”
In Tennessee, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is available to children from birth to age 5 through a private-public partnership between the Dollywood Foundation, the Governor’s Early Literacy Foundation (GELF), the State of Tennessee and local program partners in all 95 Tennessee counties. According to the website for GELF, with financial support from the State of Tennessee, GELF funds 50% of book and mailing costs across the state, while local program partners raise the remaining 50% in their communities. The Dollywood Foundation provides the program’s infrastructure, coordinates book selection, purchasing and fulfillment.
Parton was born in Locust Ridge, in Sevier County, Tennessee. Parton, who was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999, died on Aug. 25 in Nashville at age 80.