Governor Janet Mills visited the Bangor Public Library to kick off a program that gives free books to young kids across Maine. This program, called Parton’s Imagination Library, started by singer-songwriter Dolly Parton, now includes all young kids in Maine. The program sends free, high-quality books to children each month, no matter how much money their family makes. It’s for kids from birth to age five.
Before, some Maine communities had this program, but now the whole state can benefit. The government provided $200,000 to make this happen as part of last year’s budget.
This program will give free books to many kids in Maine, and families can sign up on the nonprofit’s website.
At the event, Governor Mills read “The Little Engine that Could” to kids at the library. Dolly Parton started the Imagination Library in 1995 to honor her father. The program began by giving books to kids in a poor county in Tennessee where Parton grew up. Tennessee later expanded the program statewide, and now, the nonprofit provides free books to kids in five countries: the U.S., Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland.
As of June 2022, the Imagination Library has given more than 184.6 million books to over 2 million children across the nation. In Maine, over 4,500 kids already get free books through 12 local partners.
The Maine State Library and the Dollywood Foundation are working together for this statewide expansion. Their goal is to enroll 65 percent, nearly 64,000 eligible children as quickly as possible, according to Lauren Wirt, the Dollywood Foundation Regional Director.
A parent from Bangor, Alexa Gash, who brought her 18-month-old daughter, Luciana, to storytime, is excited about the expansion. Originally from Tennessee, Gash’s older daughter got free books through Parton’s organization. But when they moved to Maine in July 2022, Gash couldn’t register Luciana. She still treasures the books her older daughter got through the program and is happy her younger daughter can now experience the same joy.
