Library, parents share impacts of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
By Alexis Barrett, Tayjon Bumphus
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PADUCAH, Kentucky (WPSD) — Dolly Parton turned 80 Monday, and while some may have celebrated with her music, participants in her Imagination Library program showed their love a different way: reading.
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library was launched in 1995, gifting children across the globe a free book every month until age 5. As of October 2025, the nonprofit reported that over 300 million books have donated in total, with an additional 3 million mailed out each month.
“It’s meant to build literacy, build family togetherness,” said Lea Wentworth, Adult Services Manager at the McCracken County Public Library. “They are encouraged to read these books together, and it’s just been shown to really give children a good head start if they have books in the home.”
The McCracken County Public Library joined the program in 2021 and Wentworth said it has distributed almost 42,000 books since then.
According to the Imagination Library, 51% of eligible children across Kentucky are receiving books. Wentworth said that over 1,600 children are currently enrolled in McCracken County, with 782 having graduated since the library began the program.
“We encourage people to start early,” Wentworth said. “Little babies can start building up this home library of age appropriate books. So they’ll start out with baby books and kind of move on up.”
Allison Gray has done just that, as her 4-year-old son has been enrolled since he was an infant.
“Every single night, we do the bedtime routine, and then he’s like, ‘Mommy, can I pick out a book?’ And we’re like ‘of course,'” Gray said. “Sometimes we’ll read a couple books a night. He loves it.”
Gray says her son adores the library, but the gifts from Dolly are especially exciting.
“Whenever we see it in the mailbox, we’ll let him go check the mail,” Gray said. “He’s so excited to see his name on there, on the postage, and he’ll open it up. Then, we usually read it that night.”
“The bonding experience is really nice,” Gray said. “I love him sitting in my lap and us looking at pictures.”
According to Gray, her son is starting to learn how to read. “I think it’s easier for them, when you’re sitting with them, to point out words and like, ‘Oh, I know that word,'” Gray said. “I think it helps them prepare themselves for kindergarten, because he’ll be in kindergarten next year, and I feel like he’s a step ahead.”
“As children are developing that tactile practice of sitting with a parent with a book, an actual book, and learning the motor skills of turning a page is just really important,” Wentworth said. “It’s important for bonding with a parent. It’s important for socializing with the parent and child. It’s important for learning reading the words.”
“There’s children ages zero to five everywhere, and a lot of kids wouldn’t have books at their house if they didn’t enroll in the Imagination Library and get these free books sent to them,” Wentworth said. “I’d love to thank Dolly Parton for starting the Imagination Library. We are certainly big fans of Dolly Parton’s vision for this literacy program. We love it. We love that we get to participate in it, and we love that it’s touched so many lives in our local community.”
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