Rotary asks cities to sponsor Dolly Parton Imagination Library enrollment for Davis County children

A Centerville‑area Rotary Club representative asked Davis County cities to consider sponsoring local enrollments in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, a program that mails age‑appropriate books to children from birth until age 5.

Bryce Peterson, a physician representing the Centerville Farmington Rotary Club, told the Davis County Council of Governments that Dolly Parton’s program has mailed hundreds of millions of books worldwide and that the program’s negotiated production and postage cost is about $2.60 per book. Peterson said the local sponsor model requires municipal fundraising and local recruitment; he proposed that cities fund approximately 50% of a projected per‑city cost while Rotary and partner groups handle recruitment and outreach.

Peterson described the model as turnkey: "Dolly Parton has figured out a way to make these books cost $2.60, postage included," he said, and noted that a fully enrolled child receives roughly 60 books by age 5. Peterson said the national program projects about 65% enrollment as a planning cap and that local costs can be broken down by ZIP code and estimated under varying participation levels. He asked cities to consider partial funding and to assist with recruiting eligible children into the program.

Peterson also described available language and accessibility options: Spanish‑language selections and biannual Spanish/English mailings, and braille as an accommodation. He said his Rotary club was prepared to handle local coordination and that initial recruitment, rather than fundraising, had been harder than anticipated.

No formal action was taken during the meeting; Peterson said he would continue local outreach and work with city councils on payroll and recruitment questions.