Dolly Parton's Imagination Library
imaginationlibrary.comWith today's news, I thought I'd share this great program:
“When I was growing up in the hills of East Tennessee, I knew my dreams would come true. I know there are children in your community with their own dreams. They dream of becoming a doctor or an inventor or a minister. Who knows, maybe there is a little girl whose dream is to be a writer and singer.
The seeds of these dreams are often found in books and the seeds you help plant in your community can grow across the world.”
My daughter receives books through this program and I was curious how it was sustained at a $2.5/book wholesale cost.
Interestingly, the coordinating body that selects books, facilitates distribution, and negotiates wholesale pricing is the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, but per-book funding is actually entirely through local charities and so on. This means that where charities are unable to act as partners, children will not receive books, but it also means that the program can operate by growing and shrinking as local support (including from state and local government grants) comes online and goes offline while keeping the overhead for local partners low.
Dolly Parton came up with the initial local structure for her region in Tennessee and David Dotson of Dollywood scaled the operation using this decentralized model. Very impressive structure that makes this sustainable.
Here’s the interview where he talks about it: https://www.endbookdeserts.com/dolly-parton-imagination-libr...
I remember noticing that a little note appeared on my son's Imagination Library books that said something to the effect of "Brentwood Pediatric Dentistry paid for this book" which seems like a great way to support local kids and (maybe?) act as marketing. I certainly became interested in that dental practice, but then we moved away before my infant needed a dentist.
Feels nice to see a program with high efficacy - another cool part about this vs other 503cs or nonprofits is how efficient it is at outcomes: books in hands
Reminds me a bit of how Andrew Carnegie funded building public libraries: he would only build one if the local community agreed to provide books and operate it.
Regarding cost per unit. I think the publisher likes this type of partner because they can really get their initial order volume up high without much risk. This allows them to have a super low cost per unit, maximizing profit, from the start.
Yup, and the “industry standard” wholesale discount publishers give to e.g. bookstores is usually 55%
That seems like an incredible discount. Can I assume then that bookstores are competing against each other via very minute (perhaps one or two dollar) price discounts while still maintaining a high profit margin?
I worked at a publisher back around 2010.
The unit cost for the publisher to put a $20 AUD book on a shelf in a book shop was about $2 AUD.
The bookstore kept quite a bit of that margin - $10 or so - but they had to pay rent & staff a store. If they were only selling $500 worth of books per day, it wouldn't have mattered if their margin was 100%, the fixed overheads would eat it all. If they could keep stock turning over quickly, the profits were impressive.
That makes sense to me. Thank you for that anecdote. I had no idea about these figures.
Also, it wouldn't have made sense to squeeze the bookshop for a bigger share of the margins, because they'd have moved our books to the back corner of the store and put something higher-margin in the highly-visible shelves, and then our volumes would have been poorer.
Most bookshops had a sizeable space dedicated to our books.
When it comes to bookstores you can safely assume they do not have high profit margins.
In the Netherlands competing with discount is actually illegal, interestingly enough. The selling price is fixed. Which is a boon for smaller bookshops, but annoying for publishers if the production prices aren't stable.
> initial order volume
None of the books you get through this program are new releases. But they are printed special for imagination library.
Probably. I don't have any special knowledge of how it's handled. But, one thing that I know is frequently taking place in similar industries, and I imagine would be taking place here, is they slap a different binding on the books. So they get a set of retail ready, SKU/UPC/MSRP included prints, and they get the ones for the program out of the same print run. Of course, the books are often not new releases so "initial" may not be true - but they get to batch them and maximize volume at the time of print. There's other programs like this out there, my son get's a box of books shipped to him monthly from some subscription his grandparents signed up for, they're almost certainly negotiating pricing based on volume and the printer and publisher are likely using it to their advantage as well (trying to print as much at once as possible).
This structure is (I would argue) a form of mutual aid. Alcoholics Anonymous famously operates under a similar structure. Mutual aid is very popular among Anarchists and is one of the most fundamental tactics of Anarchism, Food not Bombs probably being the most famous mutual aid movements that is explicitly Anarchists.
Dolly Parton was famous for her embrace of anarchist sympathies.
some governments provide funding -- Tennessee has been covering half the costs statewide
Also, most of the books suck. I hate to say it because it’s a great program. But most books a pretty bad.
Man I'm sad you weren't happy with your books. I'll say it doesn't match my experience.
Of course, your child is supposed to get books for FIVE YEARS and their point-of-development is also relevant... meaning yeah some are kinda rudimentary... obviously.
Some of my favorite books to read aloud to my child were from there.
Classics are in there...
But some surprise wins:- *Goodnight Moon*, where on your 10th reading you're still noticing little artistic differences from page to page - *Little Engine That Could*, everyone knows this classic and I think it's always the last book they send.
... So many more. I'm just riffing off of old happy memories here. I guess my point is that there are diamonds in there. Keep digging.- My wife loved reading *Love, Mouserella* as theatrically as possible - I loved the art of *Where's my T-R-U-C-K?!* and sought out both the artist and the author because of it - I loved reading *Cool Time Song* in a gravelly African accent (I imagined Ofeibea Quist-Arcton - a gal that used to speak on NPR sometimes - reading it... go listen to her voice. Such a great voice.) - The Mine-O-Saur, Roly Poly Pangolin, - The "Llama-Llama" books.
Really glad to see this as the top comment.
Parton did a lot of very nice things and was a great contributor to society in good and decent ways that many of her wealth peers totally fail.
But there has since her passing been an element of myth and folklore that has elevated those accomplishments beyond reality.
Her library is a great idea and her support was notable, but the funding in large part comes from government grants and other donors.
To a large degree, the library program is also your tax dollars at work.
Funding is easy to get once you have an impressive and demonstrably good program. But without Dolly's work (and yes, the work of people she brought on to carry out her vision), none of this program would currently exist.
Money is fuel, but it needs an engine. Dolly designed and built the engine.
All of the books I’ve received through this program have been paid for by the local library and other city funds.
I can also walk into the library and there will be a shelf of free childrens books. Not used, brand new. Stacks of them to take home and keep.
The engine already existed, our public library system.
The intention of this program was to get books in the hands of children, who might not have access to a public library. The books were kept free in order to combat the shame often associated with not being able to afford books for your kids. These two services might be catering to two separate (though sometimes overlapping) audiences.
> The engine already existed, our public library system
How good one's library is depends on how well-off the operating local government is. The Imagination Library is more egalitarian because it's often funded at county and state-level, so kids with underfunded libraries get the same level of access as other kids from wealthier zip codes
I think you’re overthinking it. Someone just passed away. For all accounts they seem to be a really amazing person with incredible character, something that is missing in many people. She donated a lot of her wealth throughout her life, always being one of the first to write a check for disaster recovery.
Let’s not pick apart “myths and folklore”, it does not matter at the end of the day.
Perhaps you can expand on why you think that is a bad idea.
I don't! I think it was a great idea. But I think people commonly misunderstand the way the program operates, assuming Parton herself was funding it, and I'm glad somebody highlighted its structure.
In Tennessee hospitals a nurse, staff member, or authorized volunteer will swing by your room in the mother-baby unit and sign you up. Then you start receiving free books by mail each month until age 5. An amazing program by an amazing person!
I don't need Imagination Library. We are very well off for now, however, someone signed us up for it and I was pissed cause we can buy all this and not take away from someone who needs it. Then we received our first book. My 3 year old loves going to the mail with me and if there's a book, it makes him so happy he opens it and sits in his chair and just looks at it and asks for it to be read to him. He doesn't know about bank accounts or anything, all he cares about is books, his cozy (blanket), Buzz, and Elmo. We decided to keep it and donate to it and I think more people in our position should have services like this to hopefully ground them in a way you forget only by reminding by the smile and laughter of your child, then donate to them.
Yes you were at first pissed, and then happy. Why pissed? because of the pride of not needing it coupled with the fear of taking it from the needy.
But it brought you and your child joy, so you did need it.
It's just an assumption that rich people have everything they need or know how to get it.
All people should be included in these programs and they will mostly give back what they can because like you, most feel they are overwhelming positive.
We all need the prospects provided by a new points of view, regardless of our situation in life.
However, wealthy people also need to recognise privilege and support rather than take; glad to hear OP chose to support.
I do not believe it’s a lottery system. Anyone who signs up gets them. So you are not taking that book from someone else.
This is only likely to be true for as long as the programme is sustainable.
Look at the label on it and it will tell you who paid for the book. It’s likely your local library and other city/county programs. Donate to them instead.
My 5 year old just got his last imagination library book. It showed up right after Dolly passed away.
There was a letter from Dolly to him that ended “I will always love you”. Made my wife tear up.
Earlier this month, we went to the mailbox to get his last book together. Will never forget it. Dolly's video note brought me to tears too. She brought brilliant, moving positivity into the world that we'd all be lucky to learn to emulate.
It really hits you in the feels. You get so used to receiving them and then all of a sudden it's a bit of a gut check and it reminds you your baby is growing up so fast. Plus the reminder of Dolly's kindness. Unexpected in what was just a simple trip to the mailbox.
I'd like to hope that at least for the majority of children who age out of the Imagination Library, both the child and the parents have "become people who read" and most likely the child gets a membership to their local library.
I remember my family getting taken to our local library every couple of weeks to return and then borrow books while I was in infants school. That made me 9 or 10 years old at the very oldest, and my youngest sister would have been at most 5 or 6 years old. So I'm pretty sure aging out of the Imagination Library is a pretty reasonable time to start that child using a "real" library, and start having several books a month available for free that way.
(I fully acknowledge the immense privilege I had having parents who understood and supported the importance of reading and education. I remember being extremely bored in kindergarten - 4 or 5 years old - and getting told to sit in the back with a few other kids who could read already and we'd read books while most of the other kids were being taught to read.)
My wife wasn’t sad because he was no longer getting free books.
We should be more ambitious with the people we build.
We should celebrate people like Dolly and not people unworthy of celebration or celebrity.
That's so hard though. I feel like she was a 1 in 1 like a lot of great people. Trying to draw a trend line feels impossible. Like ...
Not a lot of people in my lifetime (1975-present) have _no one_ bad-mouthing them. And I am sure there's someone out there bad-mouthing Dolly, but c'mon.- amazing voice - amazing songwriter - talented actress - an icon for attractiveness in the 80s who was self-effacing about it - embraced her fans of all kinds (imagine someone born when she was being so comfortable with people of all races and stripes) - just a permanently positive forceYeah she checked a lot of boxes. But maybe the room made by no longer elevating the unworthy would shine a light on those who do.
Well, the positive traits you listed are certainly true, but let’s face it: she was also very intelligent and had a self-deprecating sense of humor, so there’s that.
Oh I left super smart out, but the self deprecating I felt like I got with self-effacing ("It takes a lot of money to look this cheap" is Mae West level gag writing).
Yes, it would be nice if people who make the world a better place would receive more attention and appreciation.
Exactly, noblesse oblige
I have a two year old and have been receiving Imagination Library books monthly since he was born. This is a really wonderful non-profit. It's easy to sign up, the books show up in your mailbox, and each one has a page written by an educator describing how to read it to your child. (Point out the dog, what noise does a dog make? How does the boy feel at the end? etc) Highly recommend!
These books are really nice quality. Anyone who has children should absolutely look into this. The content is thoughtful and diverse.
Many of the stories are good. The library also selects books that offer some stories reflecting diverse cultures.
Growing up in the 80s everything is white folks or animals but almost always it is about a boy or boys.
I think the baby books are still board books. Cordoroy’s Shapes is part of what I remember about our first’s earliest years. Reading it over and over. We even did a first birthday theme for it. My mom made triangle tarts.
After that they are floppy picture books. I suppose at this scale is is probably both economical and reflects some of the material involved.
That is just fine, though it’s just not the same as holding a hardcover.
Our kids don’t care about that, though. It’s more about the time and talking about the pictures and how well we ham it up.
Hamming it up is an overlooked parental contribution to reading. Lay it on thick! Do all the voices, act like you don’t know what’s on the next page, be shocked and surprised. Kids love it.
Even in the 70s when I was 8 or older I seem to remember plenty of series with girl protagonists like Nancy Drew or the Bobbsey Twins or The Dana Girls or Trixie Belden or even SF like Telzey Amberdon or even The Rolling Stones or Podkayne of Mars.
And, of course, there was the Oz books.
This reads like a good portion of books I say need to be grabbed when I see them at sales for our family library. I know some people will disagree, but I feel as though general children's and young adult aimed literature has been harder to find that is both clean and well written.
It is interesting to me that a good story, poorly written, can be souch harder to get though than a well written boring story that just flows well.
28.may.2023 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36100992 90 comments
We use it and my son always screen “Dolly!” When we get to her picture in the back jacket. Wonderful service from one of the best Americans to have ever lived.
For jewish themed books, PJ Library is a similar good service
We need more Dolly Partons.
Yes, and we need them also in places like CEO of AI company, CEO of space company, CEO of twitter-style communications company, ...
Someone like Parton wouldnt take those positions
Probably because VCs don't want that ...
Nor do dolly partons…
What Dolly was doing here is a form of mutual aid, a practice of sharing skills, knowledge, food, or material goods with your community. I encourage everyone to participate in mutual aid organizations if you are able.
The world needs more Dolly Partons, that is for sure. But lucky for us, the world has many billions of people who are willing and able to participate in the sort of mutual aid that Dolly championed.
Honest question and maybe it's because I grew up without books… What values do books have if you cannot read? I started to learn how to read at 6. Are those picture only books?
No they are not picture-only books. They have simple stories, which are for parents to read to their children. Reading stories to children before they can read is a very, very old tradition :) (think fairy tales)
(edit - you've gotten several responses but I will say that you are correct that this sort of thing does not happen in all households; that's one reason this program is great, because it encourages this behavior)
One of the best ways to help children learn to read is to read to them, a lot.
That alone won’t teach them to read, but it will help them a lot as they work through learning.
My kids have been “learning” to read since they were born and my oldest started reading on his own at age 4-5. I didn’t push him to read at all, he surprised me when he started telling me what the signs along the road said.
My younger hasn’t taken to it quite as fast but he’s right where he should be for his age, but we read at least three books to him every day at bedtime. I still read to my older one every day (we’ve read LotR twice), even though he’s plenty capable on his own.
> That alone won’t teach them to read
Oh yes it can. It won’t teach phonics, which is a very valuable skill especially in English, but my biggest struggle with phonics was that I could already read the words they were trying to use to teach us how to sound things out. Kids vary but some will already be picking up written words by 2-3 and self-guided by 5-6. Reading the same book every night is tedious to parents but really lets the kids connect shapes on paper to language.
Fair enough, I didn’t want to over sell it though.
Not to be snarky, yes picture books, but also, adults do often read books to children.
My parents never did. Now I wish they did.
Well here’s the problem. Honestly your question sounded insane to me and worthy of ridicule, and now I just feel sad. I’m sorry they didn’t do that for you :(
Are you implying there’s a chicken-and-egg problem with books? How are you supposed to learn how to read without written material?
No. I am not implying a chicken and egg problem. If you generally start to learn how to read with 6 what would do get from a book between the age 0-5 when you cannot read? In another thread someone explained that usually parents "read" the book to the child - child answered my question. My parents never read books to me so I did not know this was common.
There's no reason to wait until a child is six to teach them to read. I was reading much earlier, before formal schooling, because my parents were readers and read to me regularly. I had a tremendous enthusiasm for books because books were important to my parents.
Plenty of research indicates reading to kids from a very young age improves their education outcomes later in life.
I'm sorry your parents didn't know to do that. Hopefully now that you know, you'll read to your kids (if/when you have any).
I knew something was off when I was the only child who was not able to read their own name… just thought it was some kind of test to see how far each child was - not that is was more or less a requirement.
My sister and I went through how to teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons when I was 4-5 and she was 3-4, would each want to get to read the words we could. Plan to do the same lessons with my daughter, when she shows interest.
Once you learn phonetically and if you have a dictionary it is possible to start working your way though almost any book. I think that love of learning leads to the love of reading, but could be wrong.
Of course, when you read though the Lord of the Rings by eight and tell your friends they should try it, and none of them care that is sad. More so when the movies came out later and then they were all like, did you read this?
I don’t remember my father teaching me to read but he was an avid reader and I was reading well before six. When I in the third grade I won the library summer reading contest - I read all my books and all my sister’s books (she was in first grade) - I read like 60 books, my sister 20 and the high school winner ten :) We moved and had a bookmobile at our new location and I would get a paper grocery bag of books every week.
Someone, typically a parent of guardian, reads them to you while showing you the words. After reading the story, they might go back and walk you through each word, how it's said, and its meaning.
Not only do a lot of kids learn like this, but for instance the little Polish that I know how to speak and read I learned like this as an adult with the help of a native speaker.
Oh wow. My parents never did this. I thought its something they only do in the movies…
That kinda breaks my heart. I loved my kids curled up in my lap while I read them their favorite stories. I wish every parent and child had that shared experience, and I'm truly sorry you didn't.
If it comes to pass that you have little ones of your own, please don't let that be something your kids only see in the movies. Make that your own new family tradition.
This must be one of the best and most widely impactful programs for kids I've heard about recently. Such a different tone than all the other nonsense happening around.
Getting books for almost 2 years now, we're so grateful to Dolly! Some very excellent books our child totally loves!
did you sign yourself up or did someone sign you up? I'm curious if this is a good gift, or presumptuous.
We weren't signed up but as a measure of the scale of this we still wound up with a couple of Imagination Library books through book exchanges or buying used online -- i.e. there are enough of these 300M books floating around that if you have a kid there's a good chance you run into them.
I like the sibling comment "We should be more ambitious with the people we build." -- there are so many great things people with some means can be doing!
We shall never look upon her like again.
—Sent from Dollywood
Hah I’m in Dollywood right now randomly
Getting age-appropriate books for your kid on a regular schedule is amazing. If you've got young kids (and you're in the US) get on it!
United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and Ireland
We get them where I am in the UK, too.
Bless Dolly, she was amazing!
Dolly Parton was a beautiful spirit and my life was measurably improved by reading as a child so I donated $50 on her death. It's not much but I'm retired on a fixed income. I had to do something.
I've been reading these books to my kids for the last year and a half. Such a wonderful gift to so many children.
Because of Dolly, other billionaires have stepped up to fund similar free books per month programs. She had a truly outsized impact.
If you know of any kids under the age of six get them signed up. The books come addressed in their name monthly.
Which "today's news" are you referring to?
I was confused by this too. Anyone?
PJ Library has a similar program for age 0-8. (I contacted them and they’re fine with non-Jewish families participating, even though it’s aimed at Jewish families and their children.)
Related on the legend RIP and some talk about the Library:
Dolly Parton has died
Dolly Parton is the one of the few people and ideas that both polarized sides still fiercely agree on, and it says a lot given the times. Her book program and other charitable work is a great legacy.
Today's news being....
If you like coffee, Dolly has a line via Community Coffee (which makes great coffee) called Cup of Ambition, and a portion of each sale goes to the Imagination Library.
https://www.communitycoffee.com/pages/dolly-partons-cup-of-a...
My son was in this program and got some wonderful books. When he aged out he got a nice note encouraging him to keep learning. Great program. Our current billionaire class could learn a lot.