Garden State lawmakers move a measure Thursday in Trenton that would provide $2 million for an Imagination Library program to foster childhood literacy. Photo Credit: Josh Applegate via Unsplash.
By Zo Terrana
NJ State House News Service
TRENTON, N.J. – Seven weeks after the death of music icon Dolly Parton, the Assembly Education Committee voted 4-1 Thursday to move a measure that would establish a state-funded Imagination Library program to foster childhood literacy.
Parton, whose father never learned to read or write, founded the Imagination Library in 1995.
S4718 aims to establish a New Jersey Imagination Library Program within the Department of Education with $2 million in funding. Children, age 5 or under who live in the state, will be eligible.
Theresa Villani, the president of the Friends of Linden Library, a nonprofit literacy organization, supported the measure.
Villani helped bring the Garden State’s first public Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in 2025.
“There was no framework in New Jersey,” Villani said. “We relied on the people at the Dolly Parton Foundation and they did hold our hand. But how much easier things could have been if there was a network in place.”
Assembly Member Dawn Fantasia, a Republican from Franklin Borough (Sussex), abstained on the vote while Assembly Member Erik Simonsen, a Republican from Lower Township, voted against the measure.
“I don’t think you’ll find anybody who says they don’t like Dolly Parton,” Fantasia said. “But I think the committee has an obligation to distinguish where the funds come from when we are doing something outside of the traditional budget process. I cannot in good faith support a $2 million appropriation outside the annual budget process.”
The purpose of the Imagination Library Program is to improve childhood literacy by establishing a statewide initiative to encourage children to read. Children enrolled in the program will receive a monthly high-quality, age-appropriate book at no cost to the family.
“Giving their child their own book gives them a sense of ownership, pride and investment in their own education,” Villani said. “It’s the local community leaders, sponsors for this program that commit to raising 50% of the funds.”
The Division of Early Childhood will partner with a national literacy foundation or a state institution of higher education to administer the program. The foundation will pay approximately 50% of the cost.
“I get to see firsthand the children who are a part of our program, who run into the library sometimes with their favorite book – so excited to share what their parents have been reading to them,” Villani said.
Parton passed away on Aug. 25. Her Imagination Library program rose to prominence as a national leader in childhood literacy.
Parton’s program started in her home state of Tennessee. Since then, more than 3 million children have participated and more than 343 million books have been gifted across the globe.
Simonsen expressed concern over the cost.
“We had a budget process in which we carried out the highest budget in New Jersey history and now we’ll add another $2 million,” Simonsen said. “I’m 100% behind it, but with so many school districts being underfunded, I just have to vote no.”
Zo Terrana is a senior journalism major at the College of New Jersey.
