Published July 20, 2026 at 1:41 PM EDT

A popular program that sends free books to young children is reopening to many North Carolina counties. Dolly Parton's Imagination Library mails children a free, age-appropriate book every month from birth to age 5.

The country music legend's literacy program has served all North Carolina counties since 2017, but last year, demand for the program outpaced state funding for it. As a result, 42 counties paused new enrollments, including Durham, Orange and Wake Counties.

The Dollywood Foundation covers overhead costs and negotiates wholesale pricing for books, and requires a local funding match to cover postage and the cost of books. Fifty-eight North Carolina counties continued new enrollments last year using local funding.

Now, with new funds appropriated in the state budget, those counties that paused enrollments are taking registrations again.

Families can check their eligibility and register their child for the program through the NC Smart Start website.

Laura Bilbro-Berry, literacy manager at the N.C. Partnership for children, said the expansion will help hundreds more families begin a habit of reading with their young child.

"That is what's so important about Dolly Parton's imagination libraries, those books are getting in the hands of families right where they are, so that they can build those daily routines," Bilbro-Berry said.

She said access to books at an early age is a key part of a continuum of the state's efforts to promote literacy.

NC Partnership for Children and NC Smart Start

"It starts at birth, and so that's what I think is really important to remember: is that this is an important kind of foundational piece to helping children become effective readers," Bilbro-Berry said.

Surveys have found that parents who participate in Dolly Parton's Imagination Library read to their children more often.