Joe.My.God. LGBT News
The Daily Beast reports:
Dolly Parton has called on Indiana’s governor to reverse course on plans to do away with her popular “Imagination Library” program. The country singer, who started the book gifting program to encourage early literacy, urged Gov. Mike Braun to reconsider the state’s proposed budget, which does not include the usual 50 percent matching funds provided to finance the initiative.
“We are hopeful that Governor Braun and the Indiana Legislature will continue this vital investment by restoring the state’s funding match for local Imagination Library programs,“ Parton’s rep said in a statement to the Daily Beast. ”The beauty of the Imagination Library is that it unites us all—regardless of politics—because every child deserves the chance to dream big and succeed.”
The South Bend Tribune yesterday reported:
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, which the country music star started, sends new books each month to more than 10,000 children in St. Joseph County and more than 5,000 in Elkhart, LaGrange and Noble counties.
Now found in every Indiana county, the program has been hailed as helping to raise Indiana’s child literacy ranking from 19th to 6th place nationwide. Early reading skills, advocates say, lead to better academic performance in kindergarten and beyond.
Imagination Library costs local and state funders a total of about $30 per child each year. The Dolly Parton program provides the books at a vastly discounted rate. Meissner points out that it equates to just about $1 per month per child for the state.
Last year the Imagination Library celebrated having given its 250 millionth book since the program launched in 1995.
Do not mess with Miss Dolly.
“Dolly Parton Calls Out Indiana Gov Over Plan to Dump Her Imagination Library”
www.thedailybeast.com/dolly-parton…
— Don Linn (@donlinn.bsky.social) February 19, 2025 at 6:08 PM