New bill aims to bring Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to New Jersey

A South Jersey lawmaker is pouring himself a cup of ambition with a bill that could bring Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to New Jersey, just one month after the country music icon’s death.

Assemblyman Bill Moen (D-Camden) is sponsoring legislation to create a statewide New Jersey Imagination Library program in the state Department of Education and allocate $2 million toward it. Under the measure, children under 5 who live in New Jersey could enroll and get one free book in the mail each month.

Moen said that while he isn’t a die-hard fan of Parton’s music, he’s certainly a fan of her work to boost literacy nationwide.

“If New Jersey can figure out the way to tie ourselves to that legacy of getting books in the hands of every child under 5, then I’m absolutely a fan,” he said.

Parton died in Nashville last month at age 80 after being diagnosed with cancer. In 1995, she launched the Imagination Library, which donates some 10 million books to children each year. It partners with organizations to let children claim one free, age-appropriate book each month. In 2025, it gifted more than 40 million books.

In New Jersey, the group works with just four organizations in three counties.

Under Moen’s bill, the Department of Education’s early childhood education division would partner with a national literacy program — it could be Parton’s group, or a college — and could require the partner to cover at least half the cost. The bill would also create a fund for private donations.

Moen said the goal is to close the achievement gap earlier. He said he came up with the idea after talking to lawmakers in other states who launched their own version of Parton’s library.

The issue also became more personal as the father of two young children he reads to every night, he said. His kids will not go to sleep without asking for a book to be read, he said, adding that books featuring Sesame Street characters and Spider-Man are in heavy rotation right now.

“What this bill aims to address is eliminating the excuse or the reason that there’s not a book in the household or in the bedroom that could be used to read to your kids at night,” he said.

Brett Bonfield, executive director of the New Jersey Library Association, said that while libraries work hard to make sure families have access to books, it can also be a challenge for some residents to get to a library. Bonfield also noted that kids “delight” in owning their books, calling it a “source of pride and excitement.”

“Anything that we can do as a state to increase exposure to books, increase the environment for literacy, pride in reading and knowing stories, and comfort with books, can set kids up for success for the rest of their lives,” he said. “Having access to books from a young age, it’s well documented that there are really positive outcomes.

Bonfield said bringing a program like Parton’s would be a “wonderful honor to her legacy.”