Hamilton County library leaders ask council to fund Dolly Parton Imagination Library local match

Representatives of Hamilton County libraries asked the County Council on March 5 to provide local funding to start the Dolly Parton Imagination Library program in Hamilton County, which mails high-quality children’s books monthly to enrolled children from birth through age 5.

Cheryl Sollars, director of the Westfield Washington Public Library, presented with directors from the other four county libraries and Katie Mullins, community engagement coordinator for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library of Indiana. Sollars said the statewide program currently mails more than 3 million books a month nationally and that the Indiana General Assembly in 2023 approved state funding that provides a 50% match to local program partners.

Sollars told the council that the Dollywood Foundation’s cost for books and mailing averages $2.60 per child per month and that, with the state match, the local cost would be about $1.30 per child per month. The presenters said Hamilton County has 21,085 children under age 5 and estimated a typical program could enroll about 65% of that population over four years. That enrollment estimate was presented by the program representative and is not a council finding; the transcript records the presenters' numbers and projections.

The Carmel Clay Library Foundation has already secured a $75,000 grant from CenterPoint Energy and volunteers ready to administer the program countywide, Sollars said. Library directors told the council they can promote the program, help families register and work with post offices on undelivered books. Sollars said the Carmel Clay Library Foundation or another local nonprofit could accept county funds, or the county and partners could establish an interlocal agreement or a county-held fund through the community foundation.

Council members discussed two implementation approaches in the meeting: (1) set up a three-year county commitment via an interlocal agreement to help stand up the program and allow the Carmel Clay Library Foundation or a 501(c)(3) to secure donations and match, or (2) treat support through the normal nonprofit grant process the county uses each year. Several council members said they supported the idea of a multi-year startup commitment but emphasized the need to avoid unfairly disadvantaging other nonprofits that apply for nonprofit funding. The council did not take a funding vote at the March 5 meeting; members asked library representatives to return with interlocal paperwork or a nonprofit grant request as appropriate.

Sollars said the library partners would return to the council with enrollment statistics and demographic information if the program is funded locally. The transcript records council discussion about how funds could be administered but does not record a final decision or appropriation at this meeting.