LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Parents and education advocates across Las Vegas are behind an effort to revive and reinvigorate Dolly Parton’s legacy of thousands of free books for local children.
Since the passing of the music legend and noted philanthropist, word has spread about the efforts of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and its impact on countless families.
According to the Imagination Library, more than 300 million books have been given to children across five countries.
MORE ON FOX5: Las Vegas fans mourn the death of country legend Dolly Parton
In the Las Vegas Valley, the local chapter Storied Kids helped with distribution to local families. From 2023 to 2025, 18,000 children received 172,000 books, with one book delivered every month.
The Dollywood Foundation funded the majority of expenses, according to Storied Kids; it costs $2.75 per child to receive a book every month.
The deliveries stopped in October 2025 after state funding through a grant dried up; an effort with Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager and a proposed bill to bring the program across Northern and Southern Nevada didn’t make it out of the 2025 Legislative Session.
After fundraising efforts and donations from the VGK Foundation, Speedway Children’s Charities and other individual donors, starting in September, deliveries will resume for 2,100 kids.
The interest in the program skyrocketed following Parton’s passing, and the Las Vegas waiting list keeps growing.
“I have received hundreds and hundreds of emails from people just in the Valley that are sharing what the program meant to them or what Dolly meant to them, what Dolly meant to their family,” said Meredith Helmick of Storied Kids.
“We know based on research, how important it is to develop that early childhood literacy, to develop the brain before the age of five. We know that it improves kindergarten readiness. We know that it improves third grade reading scores, sets kids up for success in elementary school, middle school, high school, beyond. Reading is so fundamental and it’s such a simple task that can have such a huge impact on a child’s life,” Helmick tells FOX5.
Father Justin Suder knows the benefits of the program: in his youth, the Tennessee native saw the outpouring of support for education from the Dollywood Foundation, leading his family to sign up his two-year-old daughter Anela for the program.
“What Dolly did is she made my child excited to be able to read. She made her excited to be able to learn, and she didn’t even know that she was learning,” Suder said.
Helmick hopes this renewed interest spurs lawmakers to back a bill for funding in the 2027 Legislative Session.
For more information on books for Las Vegas Valley children and how to donate, click here: Storied Kids
Copyright 2026 KVVU. All rights reserved.
