The Friends of the James Memorial Library (FOL) announced that they will once again become a local nonprofit sponsor of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

The Imagination Library is a nonprofit organization started in 1995 by Dolly Parton in her home county of Sevier in Tenn. The program provides free books to children from birth until age five. Since the program started, it has given more than 300 million books away to children in five countries.

The Imagination Library has long partnered with state governments, school districts, nonprofits, and other organizations. Friends of the James Memorial Library act as local program partners who promote the program locally, enroll children, and raise money for the purchase and distribution of books.

In 2023, Missouri became the first state to fully fund the program, which it did through the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). As a result, children in every Missouri ZIP code were eligible to receive free books through the program through state funds.

Friends of the James Memorial Library served as a local program partner since 2019, but stopped sponsoring the program when it became fully funded statewide by DESE.

However, funding for the program was cut for the 2027 fiscal year, which caused it to stop accepting new applicants. The 170,000 children already enrolled in the program will continue to receive free books each month until funding runs out, which could happen in October, according to a statement from Regional Director for the Dollywood Foundation Michelle Anthony given to KOMU 8 during an interview.

According to FOL, 293 kids in the St. James area currently receive free books through Imagination Library and are at risk of being removed from the program if funding runs out.

With the program no longer funded by the state, Imagination Library staff reached out to FOL to see if they are interested in resuming their sponsorship of the program.

Friends of the James Memorial Library decided to step in to fund the program locally once again due to the lapse in state-funded support.

Brittany Copeland, president of Friends of the James Memorial Library, said the program is familiar.

“Before Missouri began funding the Imagination Library statewide, Friends of the James Memorial Public Library served as a local nonprofit sponsor of the program in our area,” Copeland said. “With that statewide funding scheduled to end in 2027, FOL recently made the decision to once again help support the Imagination Library locally.”

In a Facebook post, FOL said that it planned to announce the partnership with Imagination Library at the upcoming St. James Grape and Fall Festival, but decided to make the announcement early in lieu of Parton’s recent death.

“We have already printed signs, materials and other parade pieces that very boldly and happily celebrate Dolly and the Imagination Library,” FOL said in the post. “And now, that excitement feels a little bittersweet. So when you see us at the parade, please know what you are seeing was created in celebration and will now also be carried in remembrance.”

While FOL has agreed to take over the program locally, they are still looking for donors and sources of funding. Copeland said that FOL will be able to maintain existing enrollment, or open enrollment to new kids, depending on the success of fundraising efforts.

“We are committed to doing this, but all the other details, we don’t really know. We don’t know if we’re going to have a cap on our enrollment, or if we’re just going to transfer the kids that are already currently enrolled from the state, or how we’re going to go about that,” Copeland said, adding that FOL will discuss fundraising strategies on Sept. 16 at their meeting.

According to Copeland, the program costs $2.60 per child, per month. A year of free books costs $31.20 for a single child.

With current funding, FOL will be able to sponsor kids in the 65559 ZIP code, but Copeland said the group would like to widen sponsorship to all of Phelps County.

“Without major fundraising, I would think that we will try to start small, manageable and hope we can grow the program in the future. If anyone wants to donate to help us further that, that would be great,” Copeland said. “But we’re going to do it if we get none anyway.”

At the St. James Grape and Fall Festival, as it has in years past, FOL will be giving away free children’s books at the festival parade. This year, the group will hand out 350 copies of Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn by Kenard Pak along the parade route. Along with books, FOL also plans to hand out 500 Uncrustables.

FOL said that they are grateful for the book program Parton started, and that the Imagination Library is part of a shared vision of increasing children’s literacy.

“We owe Dolly Parton an enormous debt of gratitude for the work she did to share the love of reading and to make sure children could grow up surrounded by books. It is a mission that the FOL believes in deeply, just as Lucy (Wortham James) believed in the importance of books, literacy and access to knowledge in our community,” an FOL representative said.

Parton started the Imagination Library in honor of her father Robert Lee Parton, who himself was illiterate. Speaking about her love for the Imagination Library, Parton told the Associated Press in a 2002 interview, “Everywhere I go, the kids call me ‘the book lady.’ The older I get, the more appreciative I seem to be of the ‘book lady’ title. It makes me feel more like a legitimate person, not just a singer or an entertainer. But it makes me feel like I’ve done something good with my life and with my success.”