Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL) is dedicated to inspiring a love of reading by delivering high-quality books each month to the homes of children at no cost, and it is now available to the children of Porter County!

Who Can Sign Up?

Families can now register eligible children, Porter County residents aged zero to five years, on the DPIL website here. If more than one child under the age of five lives in a household, each child can be signed up and receive their own books.

How Does It Work?

Six to eight weeks after registration, each child will receive their first book, “The Little Engine That Could.” Books will continue to arrive in the mail monthly until the child's fifth birthday, and every book is age-appropriate and hand-selected by the Imagination Library team. Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is available to all children, at no cost to the family, regardless of income.

How Was This Made Possible?

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Porter County is made possible by the support of the Porter County Community Foundation, the commitment from the State of Indiana to further support and grow early literacy education across Indiana, and the partnerships with First Things First Porter County, Porter County Public Library System and Westchester Public Library System.

“The Porter County Community Foundation, along with First Things First Porter County, is pleased to partner with our library systems to bring Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to our community.” said Bill Higbie, Porter County Community Foundation’s President and CEO. “The earlier we get books into the hands of kids, the better off we all will be.”

Interested donors and community partners that would like to help sponsor this program for years to come can donate to this remarkable program here.

A Little History

Since launching in 1995, DPIL has become the preeminent early childhood book-gifting program in the world. The flagship program of The Dollywood Foundation, a non-profit organization, has gifted over 200 million free books in the US, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and Ireland. This is achieved through funding shared by The Dollywood Foundation and local community partners. The Imagination Library mails more than 2.6 million high-quality, age-appropriate books directly to children’s homes each month. Dolly envisioned inspiring children to “Dream More, Learn More, Care More and Be More.”

The program’s impact has been widely researched, and results demonstrate its positive impact on early childhood development and literacy skills. Penguin Random House is the exclusive publisher of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.