Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is sending a surprise to every child under five in Marin County. One book a month, delivered right to their door.
Since 1995, the initiative has mailed free books to young children. Parton created the Imagination Library in honor of her father, who never learned to read.
All Marin little ones from birth to age five are eligible—that’s more than 11,000 children. Families can sign up through any Marin library branch or online, and there’s no charge to participate.
The Marin County Free Library and First 5 Marin, a local childhood commission, worked together to bring Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to the county. Lana Adlawan, Marin County’s director of library services, said the need here is sometimes overlooked.
“In an affluent county like Marin, there are still great disparities in our entire community,” she said. “You’d be surprised at what the data shows.”
Only 24% of low-income third graders in Marin met or exceeded English reading standards, according to First 5 Marin’s latest annual report.
The Imagination Library supports early literacy by putting books in children’s hands from a young age. Research has consistently found that access to books and shared reading with caregivers are linked to language development and literacy skills.
Maria Niggle, director of First 5 Marin, said the Imagination Library gives families with limited time and resources a way to have books in their homes.
“We’re helping families who are struggling have a little more joy in their lives, and we’re also helping families who aren’t struggling,” Niggle said.
Each book is meant to feel like a gift, one that arrives the same way for every child. For families, that can make books feel like a regular part of daily life.
The program has distributed more than 300 million books across five countries. Marin is the 45th California county to join.
Adlawan lives in Sonoma County, where the Imagination Library launched several years ago. Her twins, now five, were in the program.
“They were so excited to get something in the mail with their name on it,” Adlawan said. “They would immediately run and grab the book and say, ‘This is mine.’”
The books they received remain on the shelf, and her kids still read them. Adlawan wants all young children in Marin to grow up surrounded by books from the Imagination Library.
A panel of early childhood educators, librarians and child development specialists helps choose the books each year, matching titles to the stages of development. The earliest books use bright colors, simple text, rhythm and repetition to keep a baby’s attention.
As children get older, the books move into more complex stories, introducing humor, problem-solving and a broader range of characters and ideas. Later titles add concepts like science, nonfiction and visual storytelling to foster discovery and independence.
Every participant receives the same first book, The Little Engine That Could, and the same final book, Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come! While the initial title focuses on possibility and imagination, the last one prepares children for school.
Families who sign up their children from birth can collect a library of 60 titles over five years. In Marin, books are currently available in English and Spanish.
For Yaquelin Flores, a bilingual mother of two in Petaluma, having books in both languages was important. She recently enrolled her two-year-old daughter, Penelope, in the program and chose a version of The Little Engine That Could that includes both English and Spanish. When the book arrived, both children were home.
“I said, ‘Look what you guys got in the mail,’” Flores shared. “And they were so excited, like, ‘Mom, how did it get here?’”
While Flores cooks dinner, her husband reads the book to the children in Spanish.
Beginning the program at birth reflects the findings in child development research, Niggle said. Babies absorb language from the earliest days, and a caregiver reading aloud helps strengthen communication and literacy skills. The American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends that pediatricians encourage parents and caregivers to read to their children from birth.
A recent international study by Claire Galea, Ph.D., of United Way Australia, surveyed more than 86,000 caregivers across five countries, following families for a year after they received at least 10 books from the Imagination Library. Children in the program were at least four times more likely to show stronger early literacy skills than children who weren’t enrolled, and nine times more likely to be read to four or more days a week.
Achieving these types of results for eligible Marin children requires partners at all levels. The Dolly Parton Imagination Library uses bulk purchasing to reduce the price of a $14 children’s book to about $2.60, including mailing. That cost is passed on to the local organizations sponsoring the program, allowing families to receive the books at no charge.
California’s SB 1183 created a state funding program to help counties pay for the Imagination Library through a dollar-for-dollar match. In Marin, the Friends of the Marin County Free Library provides the local share.
The monthly book delivery complements the library’s other early childhood literacy efforts. Branches around the county have Storytime, featuring stories, movement, songs and rhymes for children ages 0 to 5. The Learning Bus brings bilingual English and Spanish activities directly into the community for young children and caregivers.
Adlawan said she hopes the Imagination Library will inspire children to love books. When books become a familiar part of a child’s day, that experience opens the door to curiosity, imagination and a lasting connection to reading.
To enroll a child in the Imagination Library, go to marinlibrary.org/imagination-library or visit any library branch in Marin. Registration requires basic information, and program partners have privacy protections in place for participants.
