Imagination Library Research

The positive effects of participating in Dolly Parton's Imagination Library on reading with children and school readiness has been studied in research conducted across the U.S.  Here is what we've learned:

✓ Parents spend more time reading to their children regularly after enrolling in the program (Harvey 2016; Tura 2021).

✓ Parents say their child is much more interested in reading and asks to be read to more often (Harvey 2016).

✓ When provided with books 85% of parents read to their child at least 3-4 times per week.  Ninety-three percent say that reading to their child is “very important” (Waldron 2018).

✓ Parents believe the program encourages family interaction and report that they have increased their use of public libraries (Funge et al. 2017).

✓ Other family members (e.g., siblings, grandparents) get involved in reading to young children too (Harvey 2016).

✓ Being enrolled for a longer period of time makes a positive difference. Longer enrollment predicts the extent to which parents read to their child on a daily basis and the frequency of parent-child discussion of story content (Ridzi et al. 2014; Tura 2021).

✓ Children enrolled in DPIL have greater kindergarten literacy skills than their non-enrolled peers, even after controlling for other predictors of school readiness (Ridzi et al. 2016; Skibbe and Foster 2019).

✓ Early literacy skills and strategies (e.g., word and letter concepts) of kindergarten students who had been enrolled in the DPIL program were stronger than those who had not participated - even after controlling for other factors including preschool experience, income and gender (Harvey 2018; Samiei et al. 2016; Waldron 2018).

✓ DPIL participation is positively associated with kindergarten readiness –this is evident in both higher language and math skills (Samiei et al. 2016).

✓ Children who participate in the program for a longer period of time have higher literacy scores than those who participate for only a short period of time (Ridzi et al. 2016; Skibbe and Foster 2019).  

✓ Increased skills on some reading indicators (e.g., matching sounds to print, oral reading fluency and accuracy, comprehension) are still evident in grades 1 and 2 (Harvey 2018).

✓ Parents believe that participating in the program has fostered their child’s love of reading, promoted their cognitive development and readiness for school (Funge et al. 2017; Neyer et al. 2021).

Funge, S.P., Sullivan, D.J., and Tarter, K. (2017), “Promoting Positive Family Interactions: Evaluating a Free Early Childhood Book Distribution Program,” Early Childhood Education Journal, 45(5), 603–611.

Harvey, A. (2016), “Improving Family Literacy Practices,” SAGE, July-Sept. 1–7.

Harvey, A. (2018), “Imagination Library: A Study of the Sustained Effects of Participation in an Early Reading Program,” Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, 84 (3), 32-47.

Neyer, S.L., G.A. Szumlas and L.M. Vaughn (2021), “Beyond the Numbers: Social and Emotional Benefits of Participation in the Imagination Library Home-Based Literacy Programme, Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 21(1), 60-81.

Ridzi, F, Sylvia, M.R. and Singh, S. (2014), “The Imagination Library Program: Increasing Parental Reading through Book Distribution.” Reading Psychology 35(6), 548-576.

Ridzi, F., Sylvia M., Qiao, X., and Craig, J. (2016), “The Imagination Library Program and Kindergarten Readiness: Evaluating the Impact of Monthly Book Distribution,” Journal of Applied Social Science, 1-14.

Samiei, S., Bush, A.J., Sell, M. and Imig, D. (2016), “Examining the Association between the Imagination Library Early Childhood Literacy Program and Kindergarten Readiness, Reading Psychology, 37 (4), 601–626.

Skibbe, L.E. and Foster, T.D. (2019), “Participation in the Imagination Library Book Distribution Program and its Relations to Children’s Language and Literacy Outcomes in Kindergarten,” Reading Psychology, 40, 350–370.

Tura, F.C. Wood, R. Thompson and C. Lushey (2021), “Evaluating the Impact of Book Gifting on the Reading Behaviours of Parents and Young Children,” Early Years, April, 75-90.

Waldron, C.H. (2018) “Dream More, Learn More, Care More, and Be More,”

The Imagination Library Influencing Storybook Reading and Early Literacy, Reading Psychology, 39 (7), 711-728.

Note: This list includes only studies that were peer-reviewed prior to publication. ESM, DPIL GTR (8/23)