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The Oklahoma State Department of Education and the former Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister join Dolly Parton to announce the Oklahoma statewide expansion of her namesake Imagination Library bookgifting program. Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is dedicated to inspiring a love of reading by gifting books each month to children from birth to age five, free of charge through funding shared by local community partners 'I'm so excited to be working with Joy Hofmeister and the Oklahoma State Department of Education to bring my Imagination Library to Okla-
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homa. Together let's inspire a love of reading and learning in every child in Oklahoma,' says Dolly.
Dolly Parton started the program in 1995 as a way to distribute books to the impoverished Tennessee county where she grew up. The state of Tennessee quickly adopted the program statewide. Since then, the nonprofit program has expanded into five countries. Oklahoma is the twelfth state to commit to achieving statewide coverage, with Hofmeister announcing that the Oklahoma State Department of Education is investing $2.5 million in federal pandemic relief funds to expand the reach of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library to all 77 counties in Oklahoma.
Goals for Expansion Through this statewide expansion effort, books will be made available free to children ages birth to five years old in every county in Oklahoma, regardless of the families' income.
Oklahoma's Imagination Library currently has 13 operating affiliates serving more than 4,000 of the state's nearly 264,000 eligible children under age 5, with another six affiliates in process.
The program's unique funding structure centers on local community partnerships. The Oklahoma State Department of Education will provide a 1:1 match of all locally raised funds, ensuring as many as 264,000 Oklahoma children from birth to age 5 have free, high-quality, age appropriate books mailed to their homes on a monthly basis. The OSDE's investment in Dolly Parton's Imagination Library of Oklahoma will be funded through June 30, 2024.
March 2, 2023 Creek County Dolly Parton Imagination Library was the largest program in Oklahoma until the statewide expansion. Oklahoma City is now the largest.
Creek County does have the largest percentage of children signed up out of any Imagination Library affiliate in Oklahoma at 45%.
The Bartlett Foundation was the initial funder of the Creek County program and is still our major funder. The Bristow Education Foundation administers the funds for the program. Deborah Ihrig is the program director. Current enrollment is 1,987.
Contact information Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, https://imaginationlibrary.
com Parents and caregivers can register children to receive free books here.
Or they can mail in a registration form, available online at this url.
They can also request a registration form or more information at dpilcreekcounty@gmail.com