Jefferson City - Governor Mike Parson and First Lady Teresa Parson, in partnership with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), announced they are hosting a celebration event with Dolly Parton and her Imagination Library team on Tuesday, August 27, 2024, at 11 a.m. in Kansas City, Missouri.

“We are thrilled to welcome Dolly to the Show-Me State and join her to celebrate the Imagination Library program," Governor and First Lady Parson said. "Ensuring Missouri's children have a quality education is near and dear to us, and we know the earlier we can get children excited about reading and learning the better equipped they are to find success and achieve their American Dream down the road. We appreciate Dolly, her team, and DESE for helping bring these quality educational resources to Missouri children and continue to encourage all eligible Missouri parents to utilize this program.”

"As the former Senator who carried the Imagination Library of Missouri legislation, to now being in the role of Commissioner, this is a full-circle moment,” said Commissioner of Education Karla Eslinger. “Since the program launched in November 2023, we have enrolled more than 137,000 Missouri children in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. We hope Dolly’s visit to Missouri will help us promote the program even further, reaching the families of the remaining 262,000 Missouri children who are eligible.”

The statewide expansion of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library was made possible through legislation spearheaded by then State Senator Karla Eslinger and signed into law by Governor Parson in 2022 (Section 178.694, RSMo). Governor Parson and state legislators also fully funded the program by approving $11 million in DESE’s Fiscal Year 2024 and 2025 budgets for the distribution of books.

Dolly Parton visits states for a celebration event once all children ages 0-5 are eligible for the statewide Imagination Library program. Missouri is the 14th state to commit to a statewide program, but no other state has been fully funded, with all Missouri children under age five eligible on the first day of the statewide program.

DESE will send invitations to the in-person event this week to Imagination Library of Missouri partners, early childhood education stakeholders, and other special guests. DESE has partnered with Kansas City PBS to livestream the event statewide so all of Missouri can share in the celebration. Families, parent groups, classrooms, and school and community partners can watch the livestream at kansascitypbs.org/dolly.

All Missouri children under five years old are eligible to register for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. There is no deadline to register. The Imagination Library is dedicated to inspiring a love of reading by providing age-appropriate books each month to children free of charge. To receive books, a parent or guardian must register their child on the Imagination Library national website. Books will be mailed directly to the homes of registered children every month, until their fifth birthday.

DESE sent a media advisory on July 30, instructing members of the media interested in attending the event to register here. This link will remain open through 4:00 p.m. August 15. More details will be shared later with registered media representatives. 

Learn more about Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Missouri here.

About Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library

Since launching in 1995, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has become the preeminent early childhood book-gifting program in the world. The flagship program of The Dollywood Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, has gifted over 200 million free books in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and The Republic of Ireland. This is achieved through funding shared by The Dollywood Foundation and Local Community or State Partners. The Imagination Library mails more than 2.6 million high-quality, age-appropriate books directly to children’s homes each month. Each child enrolled in the program receives one book per month from birth to age five - at no cost to families. Dolly envisioned creating a lifelong love of reading and inspiring children to Dream More, Learn More, Care More and Be More.

The program’s impact has been widely researched, and results demonstrate its positive impact on early childhood development and literacy skills. Penguin Random House is the exclusive publisher of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. For more information, please visit ImaginationLibrary.com