The Magic of Monthly Books: How Dolly Parton's Imagination Library Inspires Young Readers

Founded by entertainer Dolly Parton to inspire a love of reading, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL) has delivered over 280 million high-quality, age-appropriate books to children worldwide.

Reading at home with caregivers helps children develop literacy skills and prepares them for school while strengthening family bonds through meaningful time together.

Every child in a DPIL coverage area is eligible from birth to age five, regardless of family income, promoting equal opportunities for kindergarten readiness and a shared sense of community across socio-economic backgrounds.

Thanks to funding from the Dollywood Foundation and a 50% match from the State of Illinois, communities only need to raise about $1.30 per child per month for shipping.

This webinar explores how DPIL helps libraries expand access to books for young readers in their homes.

For more information on this webinar, including speaker bios, visit the ILA event page.

IMPORTANT: Attendees are not allowed to use AI notetakers, summarizers, etc. or record webinars. You will be removed from the webinar if the ILA moderator sees you using one of these services and continued use may result in a temporary or permanent ban from attending Noon Network webinars.

All ILA Noon Network webinars are free. Registration for all live webinars is limited to Illinois libraries. Recordings of webinars will be available to ILA personal and institutional members in the Noon Network Archive 1-3 days after the live event if the speaker(s) has allowed us to record the webinar. View the ILA Noon Network homepage (above link) for instructions on how institutional members can access the recordings.

If you have an idea for a future webinar or would like to present please email ILA Communications and Engagement Manager Tamara Jenkins at tjenkins@ila.org.