Imagination Library

The Imagination Library is here!

Imagine the fun of receiving a free book for your child in the mail each month, building a library of books and a love for reading. Wake County Smart Start and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library are working together to get books into the hands of Wake County’s youngest children. Enrollment is now open!

In 1995, Dolly Parton launched Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, to benefit the children of her home county in East Tennessee. Dolly’s vision was to foster a love of reading among her county’s preschool children and their families by providing them with the gift of a specially selected book each month. By mailing high quality, age-appropriate books directly to their homes, Dolly wanted children to be excited about books and to feel the magic that books can create. Moreover, she wanted every child to have books, regardless of their family’s income.

Through funding provided by the North Carolina General Assembly to Smart Start, the Imagination Library is now available in our community.

For answers to common questions about this program, see our FACT SHEET.

For more information about how the Imagination Library works here in Wake County, please contact Debi Bartholomew at dbartholomew@wakesmartstart.org or (919) 851-9550.

Who is Eligible?

Children 5 years old* and younger, living in Wake County are eligible. (*Child’s application must be received at least 10 weeks before child’s 5th birthday so that books can be delivered before the child turns 5.)

NEXT STEP

MANAGING AGENCY

The Imagination Library is funded and managed by Wake County Smart Start.

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