The New York State Library awarded $15,000 to the Binghamton City School District to fund a partnership with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

The Imagination Library is a nonprofit organization that mails books each month to registered families at no cost. The program serves children up to 5 years old, providing age-appropriate books regardless of economic status.

“When I was growing up in the hills of East Tennessee, I knew my dreams would come true,” Parton said in a statement on the Imagination Library website. “I know there are children in your community with their own dreams. They dream of becoming a doctor or an inventor or a minister. Who knows, maybe there is a little girl whose dream is to be a writer and singer. The seeds of these dreams are often found in books and the seeds you help plant in your community can grow across the world.”

The grant is part of a nearly $500,000 award distributed to 20 organizations, supporting 25 local programs that bring the Imagination Library to rural, urban and suburban areas across New York. Organizations have received the grants in amounts varying from $2,500 to $49,000, which will cover up to half the cost required to establish a program branch.

The Imagination Library partners with local affiliates to bring the program to cities, towns and communities across the world. These partners enroll local children in the program, securing funds to cover book costs and promoting the program online and at events.

The Katie Titus Literacy Fund at the Community Foundation of South Central New York matched the $15,000 state grant and is the program’s local affiliate in Binghamton. Named in honor of a Binghamton High School student who died in a 1996 automobile accident, the organization sponsors projects that support early literacy education. Both donations were paid to the Imagination Library to support the program in Binghamton, which is expected to fund almost 5,800 books for children.

“Our goal is to reach all children in the target age group in the district,” Roxie Oberg, Titus’ mother and an advisor for the literacy fund, wrote in an email.

The Dolly Parton Imagination Library was founded in 1995 by the 11-time Grammy winner in honor of her late father, Robert Lee Parton, who never learned how to read. Established in Parton’s home county in eastern Tennessee, the program began as an initiative to get children in the area to love reading. Now, the program is active in all 50 states and four other countries — Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia — and provides over one million books every month to children. In 2024, the Imagination Library had gifted more than 264 million books in total, including over 36.7 million that year alone.

The Broome County School District enrolls children into the program, and the Katie Titus Literacy Fund pays $2.60 per child monthly to cover wholesale book and mailing costs. The Imagination Library then mails the books to children at their homes and covers all overhead and administration costs.

According to Oberg, the program has already sent books to nearly 700 Binghamton children and currently has over 500 children enrolled.

“The program has demonstrated numerous positive outcomes, including improved school readiness, enhanced vocabulary, and a greater enjoyment of reading among participating children,” wrote Lauren Wirt, a regional director for the Dollywood Foundation. “The Imagination Library is committed to inclusivity, making books accessible to children regardless of their socioeconomic background, and is available in communities across the globe.”