COLLEGE PARK, Fla. – This year, American icon and music legend Dolly Parton is celebrating 30 years of getting results for kids around the world.
Since 1995, the Dolly Parton Imagination Library has distributed more than 280 million books to more than 3 million children from birth to age 5.
Here’s how it works. The Imagination Library has partners in five Central Florida counties: Orange, Lake, Flagler, Volusia and Polk. Those local nonprofit partners sign up kids in their communities — ages 5 and under — and cover the cost of the books, which is about $30 per child, per year.
In 2023, News 6 featured several local organizations who help facilitate the program across Central Florida, including the Rotary Club of College Park. This summer, the Rotary Club distributed its 50,000th book to kids in the community. To put that in perspective, Frank McMillan with the Rotary Club, said it’s a stack as tall as the empire state building.
“I feel that the 1,500 lives that we’ve touched is, quite frankly, one of the most meaningful things I’ve done in my life,” McMillan said.
[MORE: Dolly Parton is helping these Central Florida counties get books to kids]
News 6 also met Debi Weinert in 2023 when she launched the Triangle Community Alliance, Inc. in Lake County, which is now serving more than 1,000 kids in the community.
“When you’re involved with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, as early as birth up to 5, the children can accumulate a personal library of 60 books that they never have to get back,” said Weinert.
Parton credits her dad, who was unable to read, for starting the Imagination Library.
“Inspiring kids to love to read became my mission,” says Parton. “Before he passed away, my daddy told me the Imagination Library was probably the most important thing I had ever done. I can’t tell you how much that meant to me because I created the Imagination Library as a tribute to my daddy. He was the smartest man I have ever known, but I know in my heart his inability to read probably kept him from fulfilling all of his dreams.”
For Orlando mom Marjorie Bernadel, the Imagination Library is the gift that keeps on giving.
“It just gives us an opportunity to sit together in a circle and just go over the words,” says Bernadel, whose children have received books from the Imagination Library. “Sometimes they don’t understand, like, ‘Mommy, what does this mean?’ And it gives me an opportunity to explain it to them. So that elaborates on their vocabulary, and when they go to school, they’re ready.”
Orange County
Frank McMillian spearheads the program in Orange County through the Rotary Club of College Park. In 2012, they signed up their first child. Over the years, the club has signed up more than 1,500 kids in Orange County.
In 2023 he told us, “Studies have shown that learning to read before age 5 is vital. One of the interesting things that I’ve learned along the way, not necessarily for 5-year-olds, but for juvenile offenders in jail, 85% of them have a reading deficiency. So if we can eliminate that reading deficiency early on, we might keep our juveniles out of the jail.”
While the program is free for families to join, the Imagination Library’s nonprofit partners like the Rotary Club of College Park have to cover the cost for participants.
“We started out in the 32804 zip code, which is College Park. We decided to open up to kids in 32805, 32808 and 32810 zip codes, which is essentially Paramore, Pine Hills and the Eatonville area,” said McMillian. “For a while we had to cut back because we didn’t have the funding. Our funding has come primarily from our club members and from the community. Recently, we’ve had some fairly decent grants, which we really appreciate, but our Taste of College Park event every year also provides substantial funding.”
Lake County
Debi Weinert, president and founder of Triangle Community Alliance, has been involved with local libraries for years and says the Dolly Parton Imagination Library is serving an unmet need.
“The libraries in Central Florida are phenomenal, but we’re still missing a significant part of the population. If people don’t read, their go-to is not to the library, it’s to the mall or it’s to the movies,” Weinert said. “So there are people that would never think to go to the library or to take their children to the library because they can’t read.”
Weinert says a lack of transportation is also a barrier to books.
“In order to partake in the (traditional) library system, most of the time you have to drive to the library and then you check out the books and then you return the books,” Weinert said. “But when you’re involved with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, as early as birth up to age 5, the children can accumulate a personal library of 60 books that they never have to get back.”
For more information on the program in Lake County and how to donate, head to ReadToChildren.org
Volusia, Flagler counties
The Early Learning Coalition of Volusia and Flagler Counties (ELCFV) administers the program in those counties. The Flagler Imagination Library was started in June 2010. The Volusia County program began in February 2015.
The organization is currently accepting new sign-ups, but they are not currently offering the program in Deltona. They are hoping to get support from local businesses and donors to offer the program there.
To find a list of cities where they do offer the program in Volusia and Flagler Counties, head to ELCFV.org.
Polk County
The United Way of Central Florida has administered the program in Polk County since 2008.
For more information on eligibility and to see if the Imagination Library is offered in your area, head to ImaginationLibrary.com.
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