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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
World
Erin Keller

Missouri slashes funding for Dolly Parton’s free book program

Dolly Parton Missouri the Dollywood Foundation the Imagination Library

Missouri is reducing state funding for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, a long-running early childhood reading program that mails free books to young children.

Due to a reduction in Missouri's fiscal year 2027 budget, the program will no longer have funding to accept new enrollments, a spokesperson for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education told The Independent. Launched by Parton in Tennessee in 1995, the initiative provides free books each month to children under 5. The program expanded to Missouri in 2023.

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