According to the National Literacy Institute, the US currently ranks only 36th worldwide in the percentage of adults who can read. Last year, more than one in five adults in the US were classifiable as functionally illiterate in 2024, and 54 percent had a literacy level below sixth grade. The organization estimates that low levels of literacy cost the US up to 2.2 trillion dollars per year.
On March 14, 2025, US president Donald Trump – who in his first term notoriously instructed federal departments that all briefing papers presented to him be no longer than three pages and consist mainly of pictures — signed an executive order calling for the elimination “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law” of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. IMLS is an independent agency that serves as the main source of federal grant money to libraries and museums across the country. On March 31, all IMLS staffers were put on paid administrative leave, services came to an immediate standstill and many grants already in process were rescinded.
In response, attorneys general from 21 states sued the president to stop him from dismantling the IMLS. On Tuesday, May 6, District Court judge John J. McConnell Jr. issued a preliminary injunction blocking the executive order, stating that it violates the Administrative Procedure Act and “also disregards the fundamental constitutional role of each of the branches of our federal government; specifically, it ignores the unshakable principles that Congress makes the law and appropriates funds, and the Executive implements the law Congress enacted and spends the funds Congress appropriated.” A separate lawsuit by the American Library Association and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees is also working its way through the courts.
In short, these are challenging times for libraries and for literacy in America. How do we fight back, besides supporting our local libraries in any way we can? Literacy experts concur that exposing young children to books from the earliest possible age is the most effective way to inspire a lifelong love of reading. Take your preschoolers to your library’s story hour; read to them at bedtime or bathtime; buy them lots of books if you can afford them; borrow them from the library if you can’t. And be a role model for reading being a pleasurable activity, rather than a chore. Audiobooks count, so be listening to them while you run errands or cook dinner. Your children will internalize it all, and soon start exploring books on their own.
For country music legend Dolly Parton, her father’s illiteracy was a significant piece of her family’s life of privation. To help other families in her native East Tennessee lift themselves out of poverty, in 1995 she founded a program called Imagination Library. Every child enrolled in the program would receive a free book in the mail every month from birth until their fifth birthday, at Parton’s expense. The initial area of focus was her home county, where many families lived too far away from a library to visit regularly, but a plan to expand the program nationwide was launched in 2000. Today, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL) has served 3.2 million children in five English-speaking countries: the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and Ireland. About two million books are mailed out each month.
Imagination Library doesn’t do means tests; any family can qualify, so long as your local library has become a sponsor of the program. You don’t even need to have a library card – just a mailing address within the zip codes the library serves. Imagine the excitement on your kid’s face each month when a package with a brand-new book arrives! Age-appropriate titles are chosen by a panel of child literacy experts at DPIL, published by Penguin Random House, and all kids born within the same year get the same book.
Does this all sound too good to be true? And if it’s real, why doesn’t every library district offer it? The catch is that either the library itself, or its Friends of the Library volunteer group, has to budget money to support the program through purchasing the books and covering postage costs. The Dollywood Foundation does the actual fulfillment and shipping, as well as administering the program. Parents sign their kids up to participate on the DPIL website at https://imaginationlibrary.com.
According to DPIL, 68,563 children across New York State are registered in the program. As of today, three libraries in Ulster County have committed themselves to offering these free books to all interested preschoolers in their districts, and a fourth is making plans to participate.
“It’s just a fabulous resource for the community. Our Friends group makes the program available,” says Melissa McHugh, director of the Olive Free Library. “We help sign the children up. All families in the Town of Olive are eligible. You do incur a bit of a cost, so you have to have a budget for it. They get free books all the way from birth until they’re five years old. We have 64 currently signed up. It’s our second year. We put up fliers all over the town.”
Friends of the Library groups typically do their own fundraising to support endeavors like sponsoring Imagination Library, and last month, the Friends of the Olive Free Library organized a specifically themed event called Dolly Forever. In addition to food and live music, the centerpiece of the celebration was a reading by local author Holly George-Warren from her Dolly Parton biography, Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones. Tickets for the event, at $45 each, were totally sold out.
You can still support the Friends, the DPIL program in Olive and other activities of the Olive Free Library by visiting https://givebutter.com/xEbhDz. According to McHugh, the library’s Annual Appeal is underway this month, and an anonymous donor has offered a 100 percent match for all donations up to $10,000.
Another Ulster County library district that has jumped enthusiastically into the DPIL circle of local sponsors is Rosendale. A direct link to the DPIL signup page is prominently displayed on the Rosendale Library homepage at https://rosendalelibrary.org.
“The Friends of the Rosendale Library became an affiliate of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and launched the program in March 2023. Since then, we have registered over 100 children who reside within the Town of Rosendale. These children enjoy the magic of a high-quality, age-appropriate children’s book arriving in their mailbox, addressed specifically to them,” reports Friends president Eileen Hall.
But it’s not just children who are hearing the siren call of a good read, apparently: “Many of the parents who registered for the Imagination Library also signed up for library cards and have become patrons of our library, borrowing books and attending children’s programs. The DPIL is an integral part of the Rosendale Library’s mission to support and encourage early literacy.” Sounds like modeling the joys of reading is a process that can go two ways. “We continue to reach out to all families with young children who reside in our town to register for this wonderful free program.”
According to Hall, the primary benefactor of the Friends of the Rosendale Library (who also offer an annual scholarship for a local high school senior) is the Rosendale International Pickle Festival. To join the ranks of individual donors, visit https://rosendalelibrary.org/donate-to-support-the-library.
Rounding out the list of Ulster County libraries currently affiliated with the program is the Sarah Hull Hallock Free Library in Milton, which the DPIL website lists as having 83 children signed up at present. Milton residents can visit the library website at https://miltonlib.org and click on the Community Connections tab to navigate directly to the signup page.
Finally, we reached out to the Phoenicia Library to track down a rumor that it was on track to become the next local affiliate of the DPIL program. Library director Liz Potter responded, “We are still in the planning stages on this!”
Want to show support for more libraries getting on board, including the one in your own town? Check out on your library’s website when it’s having its next board meeting, show up and make your case for adding Dolly Parton’s Information Library to its next annual budget. Or become a volunteer for your local Friends of the Library group. Literacy in America could use an infusion of your energy!
Join the family! 
