Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, a literacy programme founded by the late country music icon, had its funding slashed only weeks before her death at age 80, it has been confirmed. The initiative, which gifts books to young children to promote early childhood literacy, suffered a major blow in Missouri due to state budget cuts.
The programme sees one free book a month mailed to children from birth up until the age of five, regardless of their parents' wealth or social status. In Missouri, the reading programme received USD$2 million (£1.4 million) in state funding for the 2027 financial year; a significant drop from the USD$6 million (£4.3 million) it had been allocated for the fiscal year prior.
New enrolments halted
A spokesperson for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education confirmed that the reduced funds meant no new enrolments would be admitted into the scheme as of July 1. Kids already enrolled would continue to receive their monthly books but, with what was remaining in the book scheme's coffers, those resources would start to dry up in less than four months.
Dollywood Foundation regional director Michelle Anthony slammed lawmakers for their decision to slash funding, accusing them of walking back on their own promise to fully fund the educational scheme. It remains unclear what the programme will look like in Missouri once its contract expires in December.
Programme vows to continue
In US states without full statewide coverage, responsibility for participation often shifts to local volunteer groups and organisations that opt to fund and coordinate the programme themselves. Either way, the Imagination Library has confirmed it will continue its work in the wake of Parton's tragic passing.
"The world grieves with us today," a spokesperson said in an online statement. "And yet we find ourselves just as certain about what comes next. For decades, Dolly and the team at The Dollywood Foundation — home of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library — worked to build something that would last for generations. So it will.
"The work ahead has never felt more meaningful, and we will carry it forward as she lifts us all up. Dolly, we will always love you."
A tribute to her father
The scheme was famously one of the legacies Parton herself was most proud of. She previously said of the initiative, which was inspired by her illiterate father and his resulting struggles: "Before he passed away, my Daddy told me the Imagination Library was probably the most important thing I had ever done. 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 the beginning, my hope was simply to inspire the children in my home county but here we are today with a worldwide programme that gives a book a month to [millions of] children."
