Dolly Parton Imagination Library: Sign Up, or What to Do if Your ZIP Is Not Covered

The Dolly Parton Imagination Library mails one free book a month to children from birth until their fifth birthday. It is still running. On August 25, 2026, the day Dolly Parton died, the Dollywood Foundation said its team “will carry it forward for generations to come.” To sign up, go to imaginationlibrary.com, click Check Availability, enter your country and ZIP code, and fill in a short form. It costs nothing, and there is no income test. The catch is that a local partner must fund books in your area. Below: what the program is, what has been confirmed since her death, how to enroll, and what to do if your ZIP code is not covered.

Key takeaways

• The program has mailed more than 325 million books since 1995 and now sends over 3.5 million a month, per Dolly Parton’s official site (June 2026).
• It runs in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Republic of Ireland.
• Any child under five can enroll if a local program covers their address. Families pay nothing.
• The first book takes 8 to 12 weeks to arrive, according to the program’s support site.
• As of August 26, 2026, the Dollywood Foundation and the Imagination Library have both said the program continues. No changes to how it works have been announced.

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a book-gifting program run by the Dollywood Foundation. Each month it mails a new, age-appropriate book, addressed to the child, to every registered child under five in a covered area, at no cost to the family.

What is the Dolly Parton Imagination Library?

Dolly Parton started the program in 1995 in Sevier County, Tennessee, where she grew up. She has said it was inspired by her father, who could not read or write. In her open letter on the program’s website she wrote: “He was the smartest man I have ever known but I know in my heart his inability to read probably kept him from fulfilling all of his dreams.” The first book order, in 1995, was 1,760 books, according to the program’s milestones page.

The idea has not changed in 31 years. Every month a book arrives in the mail with the child’s name on the label. The first book is always a custom edition of The Little Engine That Could. The last one, mailed when the child turns five, is Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come! A child enrolled at birth receives up to 60 in all.

Titles are picked each year by the program’s Blue Ribbon Book Selection Committee, a panel of early-childhood experts and authors. The program has an exclusive publishing partnership with Penguin Random House, which is why it cannot accept self-published books. The committee also picks several bilingual English and Spanish titles each year.

How big the Dolly Parton Imagination Library is in 2026

The numbers below come from the program’s own year-in-review pages and from a June 29, 2026 update on dollyparton.com.

The program passed 1 million books a month in 2016 and 300 million total in November 2025. Tennessee became the first state with full coverage in 2004. A January 2024 review by the Council of State Governments listed 20 states with statewide programs, including Ohio, North Carolina, Kentucky, Kansas, Colorado, Delaware, Arkansas, Alabama, and California. Montana reached full coverage in 2024, according to the governor’s office.

How the program is funded, and why your ZIP code matters

Dolly did not pay for every book. The Dollywood Foundation runs the database, chooses the books, and buys them at wholesale. A local partner, often a United Way, a library foundation, or a county agency, raises the money for books and postage. Imagination Library of Washington puts the local cost at $2.60 per child per month, or about $31 a year. In Ohio, books cost partners $2.10 each. In the UK, local partners pay about £26 a year per child.

That is why availability depends on your address. Where no partner exists, no books go out. Funding can also disappear. Missouri closed new sign-ups on July 1, 2026 after its state budget fell from about $6 million to $2 million, though enrolled children keep getting books, per Axios. In Washington, the state’s 2025 to 2027 budget left out the 50 percent match the legislature created in 2022, according to executive director Brooke Fisher-Clark; about 118,000 children were enrolled at the time. The state program’s own site still lists a 50 percent partner match, so check with your local partner before assuming the cut reached your county.

What happens to the Imagination Library now?

Confirmed as of August 26, 2026

• The program continues. On August 25, Dollywood Foundation president Jeff Conyers said in a press release: “the mission she gave us is as clear today as it has ever been, and we will carry it forward for generations to come.”
• The Imagination Library team said the same. Its statement, reported by IBTimes UK on August 26, read: “For decades, Dolly and the team at The Dollywood Foundation worked to build something that would last for generations. So it will.”
• Leadership was settled before her death. In August 2025, Dolly announced that Conyers, already president and acting chair of the foundation, would become the senior business representative for her philanthropic and Dollywood-related business interests from January 1, 2026.
• Enrollment is open. The Check Availability tool is live. On August 26, Fox10 in Mobile reported that United Way of Southwest Alabama, a local partner, is still enrolling children and that the program covers every Alabama county.
• Donations were requested in her memory. WIBW in Kansas reported that “Parton’s family asks that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the national Imagination Library program, or to local funders for the Imagination Library.”

Not yet announced

• Whether memorial donations will be used to open programs in uncovered areas.
• Any change to book selection, the monthly schedule, or the age range. None has been suggested.

We will add a dated update at the bottom of this post if any of these change. Dolly wrote that her father told her “the Imagination Library was probably the most important thing I had ever done.”

Dolly Parton Imagination Library sign up: Step by step

You need the child’s name, date of birth, and mailing address, plus your own name and contact details.

1. Go to imaginationlibrary.com and click Check Availability. Pick your country. In the US, enter your ZIP code.
2. Read the result. If a program covers your address, you will see its name and how to register. Some partners take online sign-ups; others ask for a mailed form or an in-person visit.
3. Fill in the form. Enter the child’s details and your address. You must be the parent or legal guardian. Some local partners offer a bilingual English and Spanish book option.
4. Add an email address. The program says you will be emailed when the registration is approved. Without an email, you have to call the local partner to check.
5. Wait for approval. The local partner reviews the request and, if you gave an email address, notifies you when the child is entered into the system.
6. Watch the mailbox. The support site says the first book can take 8 to 12 weeks. After that, one book arrives every month.
7. Create a parent account at imaginationlibrary.com/parents. There you can check whether your child is active, see the titles mailed, change your address, add a sibling, or stop delivery.

If you move, update the address in the parent portal or tell your local partner. The program warns it “can’t guarantee that the program will be available in your new neighborhood.” Expecting parents cannot pre-register; the program says to sign up as soon as the baby is born.

Imagination Library eligibility and age limit

The full rules, including what happens the month a child turns five and which states froze enrollment in 2026, are in our guide to Imagination Library eligibility.

What books your child gets

Every title comes from Penguin Random House, and the mailing label carries the child’s own name. The US list runs in six groups, one per birth year, and a child moves up a group each year — board books for babies, longer stories by four.

Two books never rotate. In the United States the first book every child receives is a customised edition of The Little Engine That Could, carrying a personal message from Dolly Parton about reading; the month a child turns five, the last is a customised Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come! by Nancy Carlson. That pairing is specific to the United States, though it is often reported as if it were universal — in the United Kingdom the bookends are The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Just Imagine.

There is no 2027 list yet. The official US book list page carries two lists and only two, both for 2026, and no publication date for the next one has been announced.

Looking for the actual titles? Every 2026 book, group by group — all 71 Core titles and all 71 Bilingual titles — is in our complete 2026 Imagination Library book list.

Imagination Library not available in my area: what to do

A “not available” result means no local partner is funding books at your ZIP code. It does not mean your child is ineligible.

• Check the state program directly. Many states run their own sites, such as OhioImaginationLibrary.org, with county-by-county news.
• Ask your public library or United Way. They are the most common local partners and usually know whether a program is being planned.
• Check again after a new budget year. Coverage changes when state budgets pass, usually in June and July.
• Start one. The Dollywood Foundation has a Start a Program form for communities. Details are in the next section.

Outside the US, the same checker covers Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Republic of Ireland. Each country page has a Find My Program link.

How to donate or start a program

Donations go through donate.imaginationlibrary.com. The form lets you give to the national program or tick a box to direct the gift to a specific local partner by state, county, or city. You can also mark a gift “in memory of” someone. At $2.60 a month, a gift of about $31 funds one child for a year in Washington state.

Communities without coverage can apply to become a local program partner. The process on imaginationlibrary.com has two stages: read how the program works and what it costs, then fill in a two-step form; a regional director contacts you about next steps. The partner must raise money for books and shipping, promote the program, and manage its list of enrolled children. A cost estimator on that page gives a local figure.

Frequently asked questions

Is Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library free?

Yes. Families pay nothing, and the Dolly Parton Imagination Library has no income requirement. The Dollywood Foundation and a local partner share the cost.

What age is the Imagination Library for?

Birth to age five. You can register a newborn as soon as they are born, or an older child any time before their fifth birthday. Books stop after the fifth-birthday title, Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come!

How long does it take to get the first book?

The program’s support site says 8 to 12 weeks after approval, because orders are placed a month in advance for millions of children. After that, delivery is monthly.

Will the Imagination Library continue after Dolly Parton’s death?

Yes, according to both the Dollywood Foundation and the Imagination Library, in statements issued August 25 and 26, 2026. No changes to enrollment, books, or the age range have been announced. Local funding, not Dolly’s personal involvement, decides whether a ZIP code is covered.

Why did my area lose the Imagination Library?

Usually a state or local budget cut, as in Missouri and Washington in 2026. Children already enrolled generally keep receiving books while the partner has funds. The local partner’s website will say whether sign-ups have reopened.

The bottom line

The Imagination Library has not stopped. Check your ZIP code at imaginationlibrary.com, register your child before their fifth birthday, and expect the first book in two to three months. If your area is not covered, ask your library or United Way, and consider a small gift to the nearest local partner. More family and household guides are in our Home section, including our guide on when to replace a water heater.

Updated 1 September 2026: added a section on when the 2027 book list is expected and how titles are selected. Updated 29 August 2026: added the 2026 book list broken out by birth year.

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