Country music superstar Dolly Parton will be making a trip to Kansas later this summer to celebrate the statewide success of her Imagination Library Program. Governor Laura Kelly will welcome Parton to Kansas to celebrate the statewide success of her Imagination Library Program at a closed event on August 14th. The Imagination Library will send each child enrolled in the program, one book per month until their fifth birthday – at no cost to families, to get them interested in reading. Parton’s message when Kansas started the program statewide in 2021:
The Imagination Library was launched in 1995 in Tennessee where Parton grew up. Since then, the program has expanded worldwide and is available in the U. S. Canada, The United Kingdom, Australia and Ireland. Interestingly, the first Imagination Library site outside the state of Tennessee was started in Pratt, Kansas and the Sunflower State is now celebrating over 52,200 children enrolled, and celebrating the milestone of gifting more than 3.8 million books to children.
