Okaloosa

About

Okaloosa Read is the local affiliate of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, serving children in Okaloosa County, Florida. Every enrolled child receives a free, age-appropriate, high-quality book in the mail each month, from enrollment until age 5 at no cost to their family.

Cadenhead Services Pest Control of Crestview, FL a second-generation family-owned business founded in 1983 is the Local Champion that brought Dolly Parton's Imagination Library to Okaloosa County in July 2025. Through its community outreach initiative, Bugs4Books, Cadenhead Services underwrites the operating cost of the program. The Fox Gives Back, Inc., a Florida-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit, serves as the named partner satisfying the U.S. Postal Service bulk-mail rate requirement and the formal 501(c)(3) partnership Dolly Parton's Imagination Library requires of every local affiliate.

Coverage currently includes both Crestview ZIP codes (32536 and 32539), with families in other Okaloosa County communities able to join a waitlist for their ZIP code. As the program expands, additional ZIPs activate starting with Baker, Holt, and Laurel Hill, where the USPS coordination is already complete.

In its first year of operation, Okaloosa Read has grown rapidly, surpassing the enrollment of some long-established affiliates in neighboring Northwest Florida counties evidence that families in Okaloosa County have been ready for this program for a long time.

"We've always believed in giving back to the community that helped build us. We're proud to fund this program locally and start right here in Crestview, where our company was founded in 1983. Like a healthy tree, this initiative is rooted in our hometown and it will branch out across Okaloosa County."

— Michael Cadenhead, ACE, CPO · Owner, Cadenhead Services Pest Control

How to Participate

Crestview families — enroll your child for free at the Okaloosa Read affiliate page. Books begin arriving within 6 to 10 weeks of enrollment.

Families in other Okaloosa County ZIPs — register at the same page to join the waitlist. You'll be notified, and your child automatically enrolled, as soon as your ZIP code activates.

To support the program directly — donations to The Dollywood Foundation can be earmarked to the Okaloosa affiliate. Your contribution is tax-deductible and applied directly to operating costs. Visit imaginationlibrary.com/donate and select the Okaloosa, FL affiliate.

Local businesses interested in sponsorship opportunities, including monthly book-label sponsorship can contact Morgan Cadenhead

Friends of Okaloosa Read

We're grateful to the individuals, families, businesses, and organizations who help us bring the joy of reading to children across Okaloosa County. Together, we're putting books in the hands of the next generation of Northwest Florida readers.We're grateful to the individuals, families, businesses, and organizations who help us bring the joy of reading to children across Okaloosa County. Together, we're putting books in the hands of the next generation of Northwest Florida readers.

About Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

Launched in 1995, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is the world's leading early childhood book-gifting program. As the flagship initiative of The Dollywood Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the Imagination Library has gifted more than 300 million free books to children across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Republic of Ireland. The program mails over 3 million high-quality, age-appropriate books each month directly to children's homes. Inspired by her own father's struggles with literacy, Dolly created the Imagination Library to inspire all children to Dream More, Learn More, Care More, and Be More. Learn more at imaginationlibrary.com.