You can never get enough books into the hands of children.

• Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL) is a book gifting program that provides free, high-quality, developmentally appropriate books to young children. Once a child is enrolled, a new book is mailed directly to their home every month until their fifth birthday. All children in Rowan County from birth to age five are eligible to participate, helping families build a love of reading from the very beginning.
• Founded by Dolly Parton in the mid-1990s in her home state of Tennessee, the Imagination Library was created as a tribute to her father, whom she described as “the smartest man she had ever known,” while recognizing that his inability to read may have prevented him from achieving all of his dreams. What began as a local effort has grown into an international program serving children in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Ireland. As of September 2026, more than 330 million books have been gifted to children around the world through the program.
• The Imagination Library is a natural fit with Smart Start’s mission to support early childhood development. In late 2017, the North Carolina General Assembly selected the Smart Start Network to bring the program statewide, making North Carolina the second state in the nation to offer DPIL in all 100 counties. Since then, more than 24 million books have been mailed to children across the state. Locally, Smart Start Rowan has served more than 7,000 children through the program since its launch in Rowan County in 2017.

Enroll your child today:
https://www.smartstart.org/dolly-partons-imagination-library/registration-dolly-partons-imagination-library-2/