KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Dolly Parton is pitching her imagination library to all of the nation’s governors this week. All of them at once — in the same spot.
Parton is scheduled to give a virtual presentation to attendees of the summer meeting of the National Governor’s Association scheduled to meet in Portland, Maine this week. She will speak on Friday, taking part in a discussion of early childhood literacy efforts — like Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library that mails books to children beginning the month they are born until they reach five years old.
More than two million kids in the U.S., Australia, Canada, Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom are registered with the Imagination Library with more than 184 million books gifted since the program was launched in 1995. Earlier in July, the library celebrated a milestone with one book given away every 1.4 seconds.
Use this search tool to see if there’s a program near you.
NGA 2022 Summer Meeting is one of two annual events in which governors meet to collaborate on bipartisan solutions to leading policy issues, including computer science education, cybersecurity, economic recovery, infrastructure and youth mental health care, according to the organization. This is the first time the event is being held in person since 2019.
In the past year, Dolly Parton has spread word of her program in the states around the U.S. In May, the program expanded statewide in Oklahoma, Delaware and Arkansas. Imagination Library is also statewide in Washington, Colorado, Kentucky, Kansas and West Virginia.
Imagination Library is the flagship program of The Dollywood Foundation, located in Sevier County, Tenn.