Senate panel probes Strong Reader Partnership spending and State Library oversight of Imagination Library program

Chair Perez convened a follow-up oversight hearing as members of the California State Senate Budget Subcommittee No. 1 on Education pressed state officials and Strong Reader Partnership (SRP) representatives for clearer accounting of how state funds were spent to expand the Dolly Parton Imagination Library in California.

The hearing focused on state allocations tied to the 2022 investment of $68,200,000 and subsequent redirects under AB 157. State Librarian Greg Lucas told the committee he directed 90% of unspent funds on hand to the Dollywood Foundation when it submitted paperwork and that the library had sought to work collaboratively with SRP before issuing a demand letter in March to obtain invoices and other records. "In retrospect, we should have sent a demand letter earlier," Lucas said, acknowledging delays in providing documents to the subcommittee.

The committee highlighted two distinct funding streams and outcomes. Lucas said the California State Library directly gave a $1,500,000 check to the Dollywood Foundation for bilingual book purchases; the library also advanced $4,800,000 to the Strong Reader Partnership, of which SRP returned most funds and reported $1,100,000 in expenditures. "I don't know how many books were provided by the Strong Reader Partnership," Lucas told the panel, deferring detailed accounting to the nonprofit.

Senator Grove and other members pressed SRP on whether state dollars produced measurable results. Grove contrasted…