Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Boosts Cleveland Students’ Reading Skills

Bob Paponetti cites a sobering statistic: only 18% of kindergartners entering Cleveland city schools in 2023 were “kindergarten ready,” according to assessments conducted using state of Ohio guidelines.

“A big part of it is exposure to books,” says the president and chief executive officer of the Cleveland-based nonprofit The Literacy Cooperative.

Those children who aren’t ready, he adds, have a hard time catching up so they’re reading at the critical expected level by the time they enter third grade.

“Up to third grade, you learn to read,” Paponetti notes. “After third grade, you read to learn.”

It is why the cooperative spends so much of its time and resources increasing Cuyahoga County children’s participation in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. The program, established by the country music icon in 1995, partners with organizations around the world to send a free Penguin Random House book — The Little Engine That Could, for example — each month to children from birth through the month of their fifth birthday. Since the cooperative first launched the program in Bedford, Bedford Heights, Garfield Heights, Maple Heights and Warrensville Heights in 2017, its countywide enrollment has grown to 33,000. The nonprofit pays an Imagination Library-stipulated portion of funding for each child to participate, currently a modest $25 per year, thanks to supplemental state dollars. The cooperative also manages enrollment for an additional 7,000 to 8,000 East Side children funded by the Shaker Heights-based Heights Family Foundation.

“Imagination Library books make up 75% or more (of the books in the homes of most of) the families responding from higher poverty areas of the community,” Paponetti says.

The emails that parents and guardians provide for enrollment also serve as a pipeline for The Literacy Cooperative to provide information and direction to free resources and services that help families at every economic level build an educational foundation for their children. Paponetti calls it “the icing on the cake.”

The cooperative, for example, arranges virtual sessions in which a health professional tackles a topic such as ages and stages of development, vaccines and toilet mastering. It also partners with other organizations to host workshops in which the parent or guardian participates in an activity with their preschooler — an opportunity, Paponetti says, for the adult to model a professional’s teaching behaviors.

“We can also use this connection to families to share information about workforce programs, adult literacy programs,” Paponetti adds — programs offered by the Cuyahoga County Public Library or Cuyahoga Community College, for example. The cooperative has even teamed up with financial institutions to offer programs on issues such as getting a home mortgage.

READ MORE: Camps for Every Interest: Summer Fun Guide

But The Literacy Cooperative’s primary focus remains on extending Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library’s reach. Paponetti cites cooperative surveys in which over 90 percent of respondents say the program is helping prepare their children for kindergarten. A kindergarten-ready child, he notes, is seven times more likely to be proficient on the state’s third grade English-language-arts assessment.

“What we’re finding is families are reading more together as a result of this program,” Paponetti adds.

He also points out that it is harder to assist adults than young children in learning to or improving their ability to read.

“And it’s much more economical to get in front of it than it is to try to catch up,” he says. 

For more updates about Cleveland, sign up for our Cleveland Magazine Daily newsletter, delivered to your inbox six times a week.

Cleveland Magazine is also available in print, featuring immersive stories, helpful guides and beautiful photography and design.