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Governor's Early Literacy Foundation asks the committee for $650,000 to offset program cost increases
Summary
James Pond of the Governor's Early Literacy Foundation requested $650,000 to cover higher costs for Dolly Parton's Imagination Library (about $450,000) and a K‑3 summer home‑library program (about $200,000), warning that without support thousands of children could be affected.
James Pond, president of the Governor's Early Literacy Foundation, presented a funding request to the Finance, Ways, and Means committee asking for $650,000 to offset rising costs that threaten two statewide early‑literacy programs.
Pond said the Imagination Library serves about 277,000 children birth through age 5 across the state and that the program is incurring a roughly 17% cost increase that the foundation is asking the legislature to help absorb. "The request that we're making is $650,000 It's about 450,000 for Imagination Library. For our K to 3 program, it's just under $200,000 to be able to cover that cost," Pond said. He added that if the foundation cannot secure the increases for the Imagination Library it could affect about 5,500–6,000 children, and the K‑3 program could impact about 30,000 children.
When asked about per‑child costs, Pond said the K‑3 program is about $38 per child (six books) and that for the Imagination Library the foundation currently carries roughly 50% of the cost, or about $25 per child in the public‑private partnership model. Committee members asked whether the foundation could reduce the number of books if funding is not available; Pond said they would consider program changes but wanted to show the likely impact of cuts.
The committee took no immediate vote; members thanked the presenters and DGS said it would return to regular session and continue budget hearings the following day.
