The Dolly Parton Imagination Library provides enrolled children, newborn to age 5—free of charge to the parents— a specially selected, age-appropriate book mailed directly to their home every month. What a wonderful gift Dolly has left! It’s a gift not only to the children, but to all of us, as studies prove that reading to preschoolers results in better reading, thinking, problem-solving, language and communication skills—in short, the skills Waldo County needs for the future. 

There is no cost to the family for the books, but there is a cost. While the national organization pays for overhead, local programs pay $2.40 per child, per month, for books and mailing. The Maine Legislature allocated funds in 2023 to pay half of the local cost, but did not continue the funding in the 2026 session. 

Waldo County’s program, launched in June 2024, has been a great success. Children from every one of the county’s 26 towns are enrolled, and an average of 15 new registrations come in each month. Currently 780 children are receiving books, and over 250 have already graduated from the program.

Because Waldo County’s cost has now doubled from $1.20 to $2.40 per child, continuing the program will now cost approximately $30,000 per year. Recently, a committee of county libraries met and voted to stop taking new enrollees as of November 1, putting the program on hold to allow fundraising that will support the children already enrolled until they age out at 5 years old. 

Many of you will be thinking of Dolly on September 25 (nine-to-five day), and a gift of just $9.25 can help almost four children to get their books. Give $12 and five children a month will get their books.

Funds can be donated specifically to Waldo County’s program from this site. Checks (with “Imagination Library” in the memo line) can sent attention Jane Beers, Bookkeeper, Belfast Free Library, 106 High Street, Belfast Maine 04915. (The library, as a nonprofit, is the fiscal agent for the county-wide program.)

And local businesses could celebrate September 25 by donating $9.25 or even $25 from a featured product or sale, or offer to match employee donations on that date. 

Nancy Hamilton lives in Belfast