After the death of legendary musician Dolly Parton, literacy advocates say Pennsylvania has a chance to honor her legacy – and to help kids with reading.
More than half of states, but not Pennsylvania, have allocated funds to the Parton's Imagination Library since the performer founded it in East Tennessee in 1995. The program sends out free books each month to kids ages five and under, in partnership with local nonprofits.
"Dolly's father couldn't read or write, but she says he was the smartest man she knew," said Timberly Pierce, North American director of Parton's Dollywood Foundation. "She thought that the best way to honor him was to start this program. … She knew how important literacy was and the impact that it would have on your trajectory in life."
And while dozens of local partners throughout the state have signed up thousands of families for the service, some literacy groups say the state should provide additional support. But although a state House bill to do so passed the chamber in a bipartisan 116-87 vote last December, it has idled in the Senate Education committee ever since. (A Senate companion bill has yet to be considered.)
The House proposal would create a Child Literacy Program, which an earlier version of the bill identified specifically as the Imagination library, under the auspices of the state Education Department. Money for the program would be used to match funds put up by local nonprofits to increase the value of contributions.
Pierce said nearly 700,000 kids in the state under the age of five would benefit.
"Although we have 75,000 kids getting the books, we're barely scratching the surface, and it would be so great to be able to expand the program to all kids and families in Pennsylvania and honor Dolly's legacy," she said.
But there is little sign of urgency about passing the measure in Harrisburg.
There was no debate on the House floor when the bill passed in December, and if there is outright opposition to the idea, it has been even more subdued. Three local Republicans who voted against the bill — Valerie Gaydos, Natalie Mihalek, and Jason Ortitay — did not respond to WESA queries about their opposition.
State Senate Republican Lynda Schlegel Culver, who presides over the Education Committee that has held the bill since last winter, also didn't reply in time for publication.
This year's legislative term is winding down, and state Capitol insiders say the voting schedule is already full. Legislators are set to take up the debate over skill game regulation, argue over a new sentencing formula for those convicted of second-degree murder, and craft bills to reckon with new controversial technologies, such as Flock cameras and artificial intelligence chatbots.
North Hills state House Republican Jeremy Shaffer said legislators' apparent lack of enthusiasm most likely comes down to minor funding squabbles, not disputes over the need for early-literacy programs.
"Dolly Parton really helped bridge the partisan divide and bring people together on issues that were for the benefit of the community," said Shaffer, who backed the House bill. "Republicans and Democrats — and Independents — can agree that having more young people able to read and love to read is a thing that will benefit our communities for a long time to come."
Mary Denison, executive director for Reading Ready Pittsburgh, said nonprofits would love to see the state pay for "the cost of half of the books and mailing costs for the children: Not the outreach, not the staff, not any of the other things, but just books and postage," said Denison. Right now, she spends $20,000 each month to purchase and mail books.
"If I have twice as much money to spend on books, the first thing I'd do is add the rest of Allegheny County," Denison added. "It's not like I want money in my pocket."
Early-learning advocates say that a state allocation of $2.5 million a year would be sufficient to meet critical needs. That's a tiny fraction of the state's $50 billion budget. But the competition for state funds is fierce. And Denison says there may be concern that money spent on the Parton program would mean funds taken away from other programs addressing literacy, potentially including brick-and-mortar libraries.
For her part, Denison said investing in the Parton program would ultimately benefit everyone.
"There's a bunch of research that says that if children get Dolly Parton's Imagination Library in a community, the circulation at the public library goes up," she said. And since funding often increases along with circulation, libraries stand to benefit as well.
The state Library Association did not respond to a WESA request for comment by deadline. A spokesperson for the state Department of Education did not address a WESA query about whether funding the Parton initiative might have an impact on libraries or other programs.
"The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) has made it a top priority to implement programs that help kids learn how to read and establish a lifelong love of reading and learning — as Imagination Library aims to do," said Erin James, an education department spokesperson, in a statement. "We are reviewing this legislation and look forward to continued conversations about this proposal."
Reading Ready Pittsburgh, with offices in the Mon Valley, said it has connected 4,000 families outside the city in about 20 Allegheny County zip codes with the Imagination Library.
And in the city proper, some 300,000 books have gone out to kids since a partnership with Reading Ready began in 2019, said CJ Thorpe, community affairs liaison in Mayor Corey O'Connor's office.
Dennison said more state support could only magnify such efforts. "If we provided this for all children, regardless of their economic situation or their parents' education," she said, "then more children would be coming to kindergarten better prepared and would decrease our need for special education or [low-income student] service."
"In the long run," she said, state officials "could potentially save money if they would invest in our littlest people."
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