Missouri celebrates the success of the Imagination Library and encourages all Missouri children under 5 to enroll!
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) welcomed Dolly Parton to Missouri on August 27 to celebrate the success of her Imagination Library. The Statewide Imagination Library Celebration event comes after the announcement last November that every child in Missiouri is now eligible to participate in the program to receive one free, high-quality, age-appropriate book per month until their fifth birthday. That’s a total of 60 books from birth to age 5!
DESE 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 replay the livestream for a limited time.
“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 Section 178.694, RSMo, and $11 million was included in DESE’s Fiscal Year 2024 and 2025 budgets for the distribution of books. Missouri is the 14th state to commit to a statewide Imagination Library program, but no other state has been fully funded, with all children under age five eligible, on the day the statewide program launched.
“We are thrilled to welcome Dolly to the Show-Me State and join her to celebrate the Imagination Library program,” said Governor Mike Parson and First Lady Teresa Parson. “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.”
Register a Child
All Missouri children under five are eligible to enroll in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. To receive books, parents or guardians simply need to register their child. Registration is quick and easy—enroll now!