They send WA toddlers a book a month. That could end after state funding cuts

Yahoo

30-04-2025

Washington lawmakers have cut funding for a children's literacy program that serves more than 121,000 children in the state.
The Imagination Library is a literacy program run by The Dollywood Foundation; founded by Dolly Parton in 1995, the program mails enrolled children a monthly book from birth to five years of age at no cost to families.
Washington state lawmakers ended their legislative session on April 27, finalizing the state's 2025–2027 operating budget. Although the state had previously indicated it would provide funding for the expansion of the Imagination Library, its funding was omitted from the final budget, according to a release the Imagination Library sent on April 28. According to 2023 U.S. Census data, there are just under 504,000 children age five and under in Washington state, meaning nearly one in four receive books from the Imagination Library.
Brooke Fisher-Clark, executive director of the Imagination Library of Washington, said lawmakers had previously partnered with the foundation with House Bill 2068, which passed in 2022 and established the Imagination Library as a statewide program, providing about $2.5 million in state funding for the 2022-2024 biennium.
The Imagination Library uses a public-private partnership model that receives a 50% funding match, with half from local partners and half from the state, according to the release. Now, the foundation hopes to rally the public to donate, with a goal of $2 million in order to keep the program running past June for the more than 121,000 currently enrolled Washington children, Fisher-Clark said. Factoring in expected growth of the program, the fundraising goal lies around $3.2 million, she added.
In 2024, a research survey conducted by the Imagination Library of Washington in partnership with Longview Public Schools in southern Washington found that children participating in the Imagination Library before kindergarten performed better on the WaKIDS Kindergarten Readiness Assessment in eight learning objectives pertaining to literacy.
Fisher-Clark said the foundation and its dozens of local program partners — which include school foundations, service clubs and nonprofits — advocated for continued funding, and asked for $7 million for the upcoming biennium to support existing enrollment and projected growth. Despite these efforts, the legislature faced a large budget deficit and couldn't find room for the program, she said.
The majority of children enrolled are in the two to four age range — should the foundation fail to raise the funds necessary to continue operations, local program partners will have to decide whether to continue or pause the Imagination Library's operations and registrations in their area based on their own budgets, Fisher-Clark said.
'We are currently only able to support sending children their June books,' she said. 'Unless we get some significant support from the public, that is it for us being a statewide partner program, and it could be the end for the majority of our local program partners offering this program.'
Since announcing the funding cut on Monday, the program has seen donations coming in and is hopeful to work towards their goal, Fisher-Clark said, adding that on Tuesday, the foundation was excited to receive a $40,000 anonymous donation, the bulk of about $45,000 they have raised so far. Contributions can be made at imaginationlibrarywashington.org.
'We really hope that the public rises to the occasion here and can save this wonderful program that was collectively built by so many people that love children and love early literacy around the state,' she said.