Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is dedicated to inspiring a love of reading by gifting books free of charge to children through funding shared by Dolly Parton and local community partners in the UK.

The Imagination Library is a book gifting programme operated by Dolly Parton’s charity, The Dollywood Foundation. It is a collection of high quality, age-appropriate books for children aged from birth until the month they turn five. All children enrolled in the Imagination Library programme receive a free book in the post every month.

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library currently sends books to around 11,000 children in London every month. We have Imagination Library programmes in the following areas: Barnet, Brent, Camden, Greenwich, Hackney, Lambeth, Southwark and City of London. They also work with other charities and housing associations, such as Peabody Housing Association and Richmond Housing Partnership. Several businesses, like DialAFlight, sponsor local programmes, and they also offer the Imagination Library to their employees’ children. In addition, their partnership with the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education, has brought the Imagination Library to children in Reception Class at 30 schools across the boroughs of Camden, Tower Hamlets and Hackney.

Imagination Library (UK): “We have a particular interest in London in terms of sustaining our existing Imagination Library programmes, and extending our reach to get books into the hands of more children in communities across the city. We were intrigued when we heard about the Empower London Foundation, and excited by the concept of putting a celebration event at the heart of a fundraising initiative in a sustainable way. We are inspired by your approach – investing in London’s communities by providing a rich variety of experiences during The London Festival itself, and then adding to that investment by using the proceeds of the Festival to give back to those communities. It really is an innovative and inspirational approach that will create experiences and opportunities that are needed now more than ever.”