How Madison County Libraries Are Sparking A Love For Reading

Books can help kids imagine new worlds, dream big dreams, and develop a lifelong love for learning. That’s exactly why libraries across Madison County have worked so hard to make Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library available in every single library.

According to a recent report from the Daily Sentinel, this program is now offered at libraries in Canastota, Cazenovia, DeRuyter, Earlville, Hamilton, Morrisville, Oneida, and Sullivan (Chittenango and Bridgeport). It’s also available through school districts in Brookfield, Madison, Otselic Valley, and Stockbridge. The best part: It’s open to every child from birth to age five, and it’s completely free.

How The Imagination Library Works

Here’s how it works: once a child is enrolled, they’ll receive one book in the mail every single month until their fifth birthday. Since the program became available countywide back in 2014, more than 4,000 children have “graduated” from it, and right now, 1,567 kids in Madison County are signed up and receiving books. But local libraries don’t plan on stopping there: they hope to increase enrollment by at least 10% in 2025.

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Parents or caregivers who want to sign up can head to imaginationlibrary.com. From there, all you need to do is enter your zip code, find your library or school district, and register your child. It’s quick, simple, and could be the start of a reading journey that lasts a lifetime.

Why Madison County Libraries Support The Program

The impact of the program in Madison County has been so positive that the Madison County Board of Supervisors recently voted to include $20,000 in county funding for 2025. That money will go directly to the Mid York Library System to help keep Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library thriving in the community. Local leaders say it’s a smart investment, especially for rural families who may not always have easy access to books or early literacy programs.

The Impact Of Dolly Parton’s Vision

Dolly Parton first launched the Imagination Library back in 1995 in her home county in east Tennessee. What started as a small, local project has now grown into a global program spanning five countries and donating millions of books to children every month. Dolly’s goal has always been simple: to give kids the chance to fall in love with reading. Thanks to Madison County’s libraries, that dream is becoming a reality for more and more families every single year.