Missouri lawmakers cut funding for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library from about $6 million to $2 million for the upcoming fiscal year, the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education said, leaving the program unable to enroll new children after next month. The department said already enrolled children will continue to receive books as funding allows and that it might partner with local programs or private donors to sustain the service. Missouri joined the Imagination Library in 2023; since the state began participating it has donated more than 4.3 million books and as of March had more than 169,000 children signed up, with St. Louis, St. Charles and Jackson counties showing the highest enrollment totals. In Indiana, Republican legislators removed the program from their proposed budget, another example of recent state-level reductions to public support for the literacy initiative. The cuts mean states will need alternative funding sources or partnerships to keep mailing age-appropriate books to children from birth through age five.
