Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a global book-gifting program that mails one free, age-appropriate book each month to children from birth to age five, at no cost to the family. In Summit County, that program is funded and administered by Early Childhood Alliance, an initiative of Park City Community Foundation dedicated to ensuring every child in the community a strong start before they set foot in a kindergarten classroom.  

Early Childhood Alliance funds Dolly Parton Imagination Library within the county and collaborates with local partners to make sure local families know the program exists, helps them enroll, and champions the policies and funding that keep books arriving in mailboxes each month. In total, Early Childhood Alliance has helped deliver 46,844 books to children in Summit County. 

It’s one piece of a broader effort to build a community where every child, regardless of their family’s income or background, has access to books and early learning experiences that shape a lifetime. 

Bilingual options now available! 

For the first time, Dolly Parton Imagination Library is offering bilingual options to all families, new or existing members.  

The organization first introduced a bilingual English and Spanish book collection in California in June 2023 and is bringing it nationwide starting August 4. Families new to the program will be able to choose between the core English collection or the fully bilingual English and Spanish collection when they sign up. Families already enrolled will be able to switch to the bilingual option through their parent login area. 

Why this work matters 

The impact of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library isn’t just anecdotal. A recent international study, the largest dataset ever collected on shared book reading, surveyed more than 86,000 caregivers across five countries and followed families for a full year. The findings were striking: after receiving just 10 books, children in the program were at least four times more likely to show stronger early literacy skills, like vocabulary and phonological awareness, than children who weren’t enrolled.  

In the United States specifically, children in the program were eleven times more likely to be interested in books and fifteen times more likely to join in during shared reading time, and caregivers were significantly more likely to build reading habits into daily life, from describing pictures to letting little ones hold the book themselves. The research is clear: even a small number of books, mailed consistently and early, can change the trajectory of a child’s literacy for years to come. 

Help us make this program available for all Utah families 

Operation Literacy is advocating to make Dolly Parton’s Imagination available to all families in Utah and Early Childhood Alliance fully supports this push for broader access.  

Currently, funding for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in Utah relies on a patchwork of local and private support (like Early Childhood Alliance). A statewide investment would change that, guaranteeing that every registered Utah child from birth to age five, in every county, could receive a free book each month, no matter their zip code or their family’s income. 

Operation Literacy has launched a petition urging Utah state legislators to fund Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library statewide. Every signature helps make the case that Utah families value early literacy and want lawmakers to invest in it. 

Sign the petition to help bring Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to every child in Utah: https://www.operationliteracy.org/raisingreaders 

It takes just a couple of minutes to add a name, and it could mean access to free books for thousands of Utah kids who haven’t yet had the chance to enroll.