Dolly Parton Imagination Library: Loved by Families. Research-backed.
New research across five countries shows Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library significantly strengthens children’s early literacy skills, family reading habits and reaffirms that early literacy begins at birth!
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has gifted millions of books to children from birth to age five. Now, a groundbreaking international study—the largest dataset ever collected on shared book reading—reaffirms the program’s powerful impact.
-
Closes Literacy Gaps
Research found that after just 10 books, children in the program were at least 4x more likely to demonstrate stronger emerging literacy skills—such as vocabulary and phonological awareness—compared to children not in the program.
-
Strengthens Home Literacy Environments
Children enrolled were 9x more likely to be read to 4 or more days per week compared to children not in the program.
-
Inspires Reading Globally
Children in the program were 9x more likely to be interested in books and 15x more likely to join in during shared book reading compared to children not in the program.
-
Builds Positive Family Reading Habits
Caregivers around the world in the program were 6x more likely to count images, 7x more likely to describe images and 4x more likely to let the child hold the book compared to caregivers not in the program.