Washington lawmakers have cut funding for a literacy program that serves over 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 book a month from birth to 5 years old at no cost to families.
Although the state had previously indicated it would provide funding for the expansion of the Imagination Library, that money was omitted from the final budget, according to a news release the Imagination Library sent on April 28.
Now, the foundation hopes to rally the public to donate, with a goal of $2 million to keep the program running past June, said Brooke Fisher-Clark, executive director of the Imagination Library of Washington. Factoring in expected growth of the program, the fundraising goal is around $3.2 million, she added.
According to 2023 U.S. Census data, there are just under 504,000 children age 5 and under in Washington state, meaning nearly 1 in 4 receive books from the Imagination Library.
Fisher-Clark 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, with half of the funding from local partners and half from the state, according to the news release.
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 2- to 4-year-old age range — should the foundation fail to raise the funds necessary, 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 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 Monday, the program has seen donations coming in and is hopeful, Fisher-Clark said, adding that on Tuesday, the foundation was excited to receive a $40,000 anonymous donation, the bulk of about $45,000 it has 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.
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