(LEX 18) — A last-minute agreement in the Kentucky legislature will maintain dollar-for-dollar match funding for Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, saving the program from proposed budget cuts.
Officials announced Tuesday that Kentucky's state budget will continue to match local contributions for the early literacy program. An earlier version of the budget proposed the state cover only one-third of the cost, which advocates said would have forced local partners to shoulder two-thirds of the funding.
Advocates credit community members who reached out to lawmakers for changing the outcome.
"They really provided a lot of grassroots mobilization to share their voices about the importance of early literacy," said State Director for Dolly Parton's Imagination Library KY Libby Suttles.
More than 138,000 children in Kentucky from birth to age 5 receive a free book every month from the program. Advocates noted the Imagination Library has gifted more than 8 million books to children in the commonwealth.
Children registered in the program score as much as 13 points higher on Kentucky's kindergarten readiness assessments.
"We know that children who spend time in their home reading with a loved one that they are so much more prepared whenever they go to kindergarten because they've already learned and instilled a love of reading," said Community Engagement Coordinator Lindsey Westerfield.
With secure funding, the program is shifting its focus to expand the Imagination Library by reaching children in foster care.
"Those children needs books and books that will follow them wherever they may be with a caregiver in whatever situation they are in. Those children can own something that belongs to them," said Westerfield.
In June, the program plans to launch a partnership at Galisano Children's Hospital at UK to register every newborn.
"We're incredibly thankful for the funding but also the belief that that is an incredibly important population that we must serve and serve well," said Westerfield.
