A common misconception Kelly Ehinger hears from prospective donors to the Dolly Parton Imagination Library of Indiana is that the country music star herself fully funds the mail-order children’s library.

The Adams County Library System director’s job became even more difficult when Gov. Mike Braun eliminated Indiana’s 50% match to local Imagination Library programs from the biennial budget last year following a dire budget forecast.

First Lady Maureen Braun endeavored to replace the state’s match with private donations, which met 90% of its fundraising goal for the two-year cycle as of March and is once again operational in all 92 Hoosier counties.

Now, library directors say they worry prospective donors who’ve already contributed to the statewide campaign may be unaware local programs need to raise half of the program’s cost to stay in operation.

State expanded reach

Adams County launched its Imagination Library in 2024, shortly after former Gov. Eric Holcomb committed a 50% match from the state budget to assist in the expansion of the program.

Just shy of 1,000 children from birth to age five are now registered to receive free, age-appropriate books through the mail each month, Ehinger said.

Another 200 have since graduated — surpassing the Dollywood Foundation’s expectations in a county where families do not live in a library district.

“The goal is to get books into the home so children have that experience of holding a book, of learning that reading is from left to right, top to bottom, and develop those literacy skills before they reach school,” she said.

It costs the United Way of Adams County about $17,000 a year to meet the state’s match.

The First Lady’s efforts “are greatly appreciated,” Ehinger said, but public misconceptions that the Imagination Library is already paid for makes it difficult to raise the remaining support.

“We have to raise more funds to catch up and make sure that we have sustainable funding. Currently we do, but I don’t know how long we will.”

Library Federation seeks stability

Crown Point Community Library Director Julie Wendorf campaigned to expand Lake County’s Imagination Library to children in Gary, East Chicago and Lowell, who were previously denied access to Lake County’s pre-existing Imagination Library programs due to funding constraints.

She succeeded last year when the Dean and Barbara White Foundation came forward with enough to finally reach Lake County’s most impoverished cities — 1,500 children and counting — becoming one of the last counties to hit complete coverage despite state budget cuts the same year.

It costs an average of $2.60 per child each month in state and local funding to mail the books directly to families, Wendorf said.

The past president of the Indiana Library Federation opposed Braun’s budget cuts, which she said “put pressure” on local campaigns to raise money enough to stay sustainable.

Prior to Holcomb’s match commitment, libraries and philanthropic groups had to raise everything on their own, limiting the program’s reach.

“The problem the Indiana Library Federation sees with this is that it doesn’t have sustainability,” Wendorf said. “It took (the First Lady) a while to raise the funds that we needed for the two years, and going out into the field to fundraise, we had concerns that it would be hitting some of the same funders that fund the local 50% (match) and so there was some crossover funding with that.”

Wendorf said the federation will advocate to restore the state’s Imagination Library funding in the next budget.

A recent poll of 800 Hoosiers found broad public support for the program: “It’s a great investment in early literacy.”

Benefits of home libraries

Research indicates the brain develops differently when reading words from a page as opposed to reading from a tablet, said Fonda Owens, director of the La Porte Public Library.

While exposure to technology remains important, “we need to start with this first,” she said.

The Imagination Library makes it easy for parents to create their own home libraries by mailing books directly to families each month, regardless of their financial situation or proximity to a traditional library.

The program proved popular in La Porte County: 800 children registered the first weekend it launched in 2023, Owens said.

“It’s easy. It’s fun. It builds a relationship between parent and child, and (child and) grandparent.”

Children get excited waiting for their books to arrive in the mail—even visiting the library when they’re finished in search of books by the same author, said Ehinger, the Adams County librarian.

The advantages of a home library go beyond instilling an early love of reading.

“Children who have books at home and who are read to are better prepared for school,” Ehinger said. “They show better success academically. Teachers and educators would tell you they’d be able to tell you which children have had access to books and which don’t.”

Children who enter kindergarten academically behind their peers may not fully catch up either.

“Reading to a child, even as an infant, is one of the best things you can do, because young children are learning every second,” she said. “The exposure to words and vocabulary and the rhythm of reading — it helps with brain development. It really, truly does prepare those children to learn in a way that you can’t get caught up with if you wait for all of that development to happen at school.”

Indiana Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com.