Friends of the Fairhope Library have donated $10,000 to the Baldwin County Imagination Library, the local chapter of the late Dolly Parton’s free children’s book program.

Founded in 1995 by the country music star, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library distributes books to children from birth to age five, free of charge, through funding shared by the Dolly Parton Foundation and local community partners. The program is available in all 67 counties in Alabama, with 5.4 million books being delivered across the state since 2004 according to the Imagination Library’s website.

Baldwin County’s Imagination Library program is run by the Bay Minette Public Library, which process applications and mail books distributed by the Imagination Library to children within Baldwin County every month. Joanna Bailey, Library and Cultural Arts Director in Bay Minette, oversees the local program and said the donation by the Friends of the Fairhope Library will help cover registration costs.

Bailey started the Imagination Library program in Baldwin County in 2022, originally serving the Bay Minette and North Baldwin communities. She later took on the entire county operations in 2023, when Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced a statewide expansion of the Imagination Library. Bailey said they currently have around 5,500 children in Baldwin County registered to the program, with a little more than 1,700 having recently graduated.

“She started this program because her father was illiterate,” Bailey said. “Because he could not continue to go to school. He had to work. He did live to see this and I know he’s looking down from heaven going ‘Look at all my daughter has accomplished.’ It’s the best thing that anybody could do because you need that reading for the foundation for school. Not just in English or something like that, but every subject, because you have to read for everything, so it’s incredibly important.”

Friends of the Fairhope Library is a nonprofit volunteer support group that raises funds and provides community services for the Fairhope Public Library. Its Raise-A-Reader program provides newborn families at Thomas Birth Center with information about library programs and local resources, along with books and applications for library cards and the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.

As part of the Raise-A-Reader program, each application for the Imagination Library goes straight to Bailey at Bay Minette Public Library through a pre-filled envelope. All parents have to do is put their application in and place a stamp on it to be mailed out.

“The reason that we are so involved in the Imagination Library is we realize the importance of having access to books when they’re young and the importance of parents reading to their children,” said Randal Wright, Chairman of the Fairhope Public Library’s Board of Trustees. “Studies have shown that children that are read to, when they’re young and growing up, do much better in school and are much more successful.”

Also in the wake of Parton’s death, a special “Drive with Dolly” specialty license plate has received enough pre-commitments to go into production in Alabama, with $50 from every plate sold going directly to the local Imagination Library partner in the county where it is registered, such as in Baldwin County.

You can donate directly to the Baldwin County Imagination Library by clicking here.