Smart Start Network Celebrates Give Like Dolly Day Across North Carolina | Smart Start & The North Carolina Partnership for Children

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Smart Start Network Celebrates Give Like Dolly Day Across North Carolina

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Give Like Dolly Day shines a spotlight on Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and the Smart Start Partnerships helping make early literacy possible for North Carolina families

RALEIGH, N.C. – The North Carolina Partnership for Children (NCPC) and the Smart Start Network today joined communities around the world in celebrating Give Like Dolly Day, a global day dedicated to supporting Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL) and honoring Dolly’s extraordinary legacy of inspiring children to dream big and develop a lifelong love of reading.

At the heart of Give Like Dolly Day are the local organizations and community leaders who carry Dolly’s vision forward every day. In North Carolina, that work is made possible through the Smart Start Network and its local partnerships serving all 100 counties.

DPIL became available statewide in North Carolina in 2017 through the Smart Start Network, ensuring families in every county could access the program. Today, more than 240,000 North Carolina children receive a free, age-appropriate book in their mailbox each month, and more than 28 million books have been mailed to children and families across the state since the statewide expansion. Every book is provided at no cost to families and delivered directly to a child’s home, helping make books accessible regardless of income or zip code.

The statewide expansion of Imagination Library was made possible through support from the North Carolina General Assembly, combined with local investments and private donations.

The Smart Start Network serves as the statewide administrator of Imagination Library in North Carolina, working alongside state leaders, community organizations, and donors to make the program possible. Local Smart Start partnerships help connect families to the program, build community support, raise local funds, and ensure children across North Carolina can experience the joy of receiving a new book every month from birth to age five.

“For Dolly, giving was always personal and from her heart,” said Jeff Conyers, President of The Dollywood Foundation. “She believed deeply in helping people, especially children, and she always felt if you are in a position to help, you should help. Give Like Dolly Day is an opportunity for people everywhere to not only support their local Imagination Library Partners but also other local nonprofits helping children.”

Dolly founded the Imagination Library in 1995 in honor of her father, who could not read or write. What began in her home county in East Tennessee has grown into the world’s largest early childhood book-gifting program. In North Carolina, Smart Start local partnerships have helped make Dolly’s vision a reality by working alongside communities, state leaders, and supporters to bring books directly into children’s homes.

Research consistently shows that children who are read to regularly develop stronger language, literacy, and school readiness skills. Every book delivered through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library represents an opportunity for parents, grandparents, and caregivers to share a story, build vocabulary, strengthen family connections, and foster a lifelong love of learning.

“North Carolina’s success with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library demonstrates what is possible when communities, policymakers, and partners come together on behalf of children,” said Amy Cubbage, President of the North Carolina Partnership for Children. “Through the leadership of Smart Start local partnerships, the support of policymakers and state leaders who have invested in this important program, and the generosity of donors and community partners, families in all 100 counties can access free books that help build home libraries, create meaningful reading routines, and foster a lifelong love of learning for North Carolina’s youngest children.”

As part of Give Like Dolly Day, North Carolinians are encouraged to:

• Donate to their local Smart Start partnership in honor of Give Like Dolly Day to support Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and other local efforts that help young children and families thrive.
• Support NCPC’s statewide Give Like Dolly Day fundraising campaign by making a donation at NCPC’s Give Like Dolly Campaign.

• Share how they “Give Like Dolly” and encourage others to invest in children in their own communities using #GiveLikeDolly.

The celebration comes during Smart Start Month, proclaimed by Governor Josh Stein, recognizing the work being done across North Carolina to help young children thrive. For more than 30 years, Smart Start has invested in children, families, and communities through initiatives focused on early care and education, family support, health, and literacy. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is one example of how local partnerships, community support, and a shared commitment to children can create lasting impact across the state.

Give Like Dolly Day will be celebrated annually on September 25, a new tradition honoring the way she lived her life: inspiring children to dream more, learn more, care more and be more.™

About Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library

Launched in 1995, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is the world’s leading early childhood book-gifting program and the flagship initiative of The Dollywood Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Since its founding, the program has gifted more than 300 million free books to children across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Republic of Ireland.

Each month, the Imagination Library mails over 3 million high-quality, age-appropriate books directly to children’s homes. Every enrolled child receives one book per month from birth to age five, at no cost to families.

Inspired by her father’s inability to read and write, Dolly created the Imagination Library in her hometown of Sevier County, Tennessee, to inspire a love of reading from the earliest years. In true Dolly fashion, she soon shared that dream with other communities that wanted to give their children the same opportunity to Dream More, Learn More, Care More, and Be More.

The Imagination Library’s impact has been widely studied, with research consistently showing positive effects on early childhood development, kindergarten readiness, and family reading habits. For more information, visit imaginationlibrary.com.

About Smart Start and NCPC

Smart Start is a statewide network of 75 local partnerships serving all 100 North Carolina counties with a mission to advance a high-quality, comprehensive, accountable early childhood system that benefits each child in North Carolina beginning with a healthy birth. Led by NCPC, this network ensures fiscal and programmatic accountability. The Smart Start Network supports children from birth to age 5 through investments in early care and education, family support, health, and literacy, helping children arrive at school healthy and ready to succeed. For more information, visit www.smartstart.org.

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