Washington state superintendent to help fund Imagination Library, work with legislature to restore funds

The Dolly Parton Imagination Library will continue to offer free books to children younger than 5 for at least the next year, according to Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal.

Reykdal announced Wednesday he will use money from his office to help cover the cost of the literary program after legislators did not include a $7 million request to help fund the program over the next two years in this year’s operating budget. The lack of funding for the program came as lawmakers worked to address a multibillion shortfall in the state budget.

According to a joint statement from the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Imagination Library, legislators also opted to reduce funding for several education programs, including the Transition to Kindergarten and the Early Childhood Education and Assistance programs.

“Washington’s youngest children cannot afford to have their opportunities for early learning cut to this extent,” Reykdal said in a statement Wednesday. “While I plan to advocate for renewed funding in the supplemental session next year, the Imagination Library of Washington risks losing their effective, statewide infrastructure if funding generated from the statewide match is halted for even one year. Through limited discretionary funds, my agency will keep this program funded for one more year with the goal being to obtain permanent funding from the Legislature next session.”

Reykdal will reallocate approximately $2 million in one-time federal funding, reprioritize early learning funding and trim other expenses, such as staff travel.

“Superintendent Reykdal’s goal is to keep intact programs that provide direct services to students and to maintain the integrity of programs that are closest to our two main priorities over the next two years: early literacy and middle-level mathematics,” said Katie Henning, an OSPI spokeswoman.

Parton launched the Imagination Library in 1995 in Sevier County, Tennessee, where she grew up. It has since provided more than 200 million books to children free of charge over the past 30 years. Across the country, more than 2 million children receive books monthly through the Imagination Library.

The program expanded in 2022, with Washington becoming the 11th state, and the first on the West Coast, to allow any child to sign up for the program free of charge.

In Washington, the program serves 120,000 children in each of the state’s 39 counties. According to the Imagination Library of Washington, the program is funded equally through public funds and local partners.

During an event in Tacoma in 2023 to celebrate the program’s expansion, Parton said it helps “instill a love for reading and the love for books.”

“I do other things, but I don’t think I’ll ever do anything more important or more personal to me than this,” Parton said.

The program currently serves 9,800 children in Spokane County and has provided more than 275,000 books to nearly 15,000 children in the county since its inception.

After the legislature opted not to include funding for the program in this year’s budget, the United Way of Spokane County paused new enrollments, a decision the organization said “did not come lightly.” Those currently enrolled risked no longer receiving books in the program after July unless additional funding was secured.

“We are grateful to Superintendent Reykdal and OSPI for their investment in and continued support for the Imagination Library,” Brooke Fisher-Clark, executive director of the Imagination Library of Washington, said in a statement. “This program has the potential to be absolutely life changing for Washington students, and we already see through rising kindergarten readiness scores that our efforts, along with other early learning investments, are making a difference in our children’s learning. As Dolly Parton often says, ‘You can never get enough books into the hands of enough children.’ ”

Earlier this month, the Imagination Library expanded the program to allow families the option to receive bilingual Spanish and English books.

Information on how to enroll in the program can be found at imaginationlibrarywashington.org/check_availability.