Neighboring Counties to Participate in Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

Tuesday, September 1st, 2026 -- 8:01 AM

(Hope Kirwan, Wisconsin Public Radio) As people around the world mourn the death of legendary singer and songwriter Dolly Parton, children in western Wisconsin will soon benefit from her legacy of philanthropy and support of early literacy.

According to Hope Kirwan with the Wisconsin Public Radio, the Winding River Library System, which serves Buffalo, Trempealeau, Monroe, La Crosse, Jackson, Juneau and Vernon counties, is partnering with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

Children in the seven counties will be eligible to receive a free book once a month from birth to age 5 when the program officially launches in January. It’s designed to ensure all kids have access to books regardless of their family’s income. It’s a goal that aligns well with the mission of public libraries, according to Jessica Schoonover, projects and gifts manager for Winding Rivers.

“There are kids who aren’t coming to the public library,” Schoonover said. “Their parents might not be able to bring them, their schedules might be difficult to get to a library, whatever the situation is. And we don’t want any child to be left behind.” Parton, who died Tuesday at age 80, created the Imagination Library in 1995 as a way to honor her father, who could not read or write.

It has grown from serving fewer than 2,000 children in Parton’s home county in east Tennessee to now sending more than 3 million books per month to children across five countries, according to the program’s website. In Wisconsin, Imagination Library programs are already available to children in Dane, Sauk and Washington counties, as well as those in the Greenfield School District.

Children receive age-appropriate books that are chosen by a committee of educators and librarians. Schoonover said books will be a critical resource to addressing the state’s struggle with early literacy. The latest state data shows more than one-third of students in third grade and below need reading intervention.

“Children are going to be ready for kindergarten when they are surrounded by books,” Schoonover said. “Dolly Parton has always said you can never put enough books into the hands of children, and we completely agree with that as public libraries.”

The Imagination Library program relies on local partners to enroll children in the program and pay $2.60 per child each month to help cover book costs and mailing fees. Schoonover said Winding Rivers has been working on the project for just over a year, including forming a nonprofit to pay the monthly operating costs.

While they won’t start taking signups until January, she said Parton’s death inspired them to announce the program early for anyone looking to honor the legacy of the music star and philanthropist.

“We have seen in the last 36 hours, a nice amount of donations coming in as people are remembering Dolly,” Schoonover said on Thursday. She said committing to the fundraising that’s needed to cover the local fees for all children in the seven-county region was a “big bite” for the library system, which largely serves rural communities.

But much like Parton’s own story of dreaming beyond her upbringing in rural poverty, Schoonover said the library system wanted to “swing for the fences” to ensure every child in their region has the chance at an early love of reading.

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