Missouri Wants To Cut Dolly Parton's Free Books Program

Who cuts books for kids?

If Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe approves the state’s proposed 2027 fiscal year budget, state lawmakers will cut the budget for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library by more than half, from about $6 million to $2 million. That could impact hundreds of thousands of kids across the state.

Bold move to attack books for children and one of the country’s most beloved entertainers at the same time.

Missouri launched Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program in November 2023. Since then, more than 4.3 million books have been donated, with 169,032 children receiving a free book every month through the program. That means about 42% of children under the age of 6 in the Missouri have received free books.

Dolly Parton began the program in 1995 to honor her father, who never had the opportunity to learn to read or write. Her goal was to prevent other children from facing similar struggles – a goal she achieved!

Research has found that children enrolled in the program were 5 times more likely to be interested in reading, 11 times more likely to be interested in books, and 15 times more likely to join in shared reading, compared to children who were not enrolled.

Imagination Library relies on a combination of private and public partnerships to provide free books to children. The Dollywood Foundation covers program overhead and purchases books in bulk to keep costs low, while local partners and state funding help pay for the books and mailing expenses.

Missouri’s budget cut means that no new children will be able to sign up for the free books as of July 1, and the state will continue to provide books only to children already enrolled “as funding allows.”

Books are critical for kids to improve their reading and language skills, develop empathy, learn about characters who are different than them, and grow into thoughtful adults. It’s even been shown to counteract some of the learning and cognitive effects from poverty on early childhood development.

The state of Missouri might be about to cut funding for Imagination Library, but Dolly Parton isn’t going to stop her mission of providing books to kids and neither can we. If you want to join our mission to support reading and public education, check out Freedom To Parent 21st Century Kids.