Join us in supporting the Imagination Library of Eugene!
We greatly appreciate everyone who has attended, sponsored, or supported the Imagination Library Luncheon in past years. Eugene Public Library Foundation will not be holding a luncheon in fall of 2025.
However, it is always a great time to plant seeds of imagination by supporting the Imagination Library of Eugene! Even with guaranteed state support for half of the program’s cost for the next couple of years, we still depend on local support from generous community members like you to cover the remainder of the cost.
Read below about the impact of the program, including a highlight of a local Imagination Library family.
The quality of a child’s early experiences are so important, since eighty percent of brain development happens in the first 1,000 days of life.
Our community is working together to maximize that precious time by providing access to high-quality, age-appropriate books for our youngest members through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. This program helps to build the foundational skills that young, developing minds need for future academic success by planting seeds that can flourish into a passion for life-long learning.
Since 2014, Eugene Public Library and Eugene Public Library Foundation have put books in the hands (and mailboxes) of more than 16,000 children just starting to discover their love of reading - and we could not have done it without your help.
Through The Imagination Library of Eugene, children in our area, from birth to their fifth birthdays, receive books mailed directly to their homes each month, addressed specifically to them - at no cost to their families. Youth enrolled at birth can receive 60 books by the time they begin kindergarten!
The Tognazzini-Baker Family, our 2025 Imagination Library of Eugene Photo Challenge Winners (pictured to the right and below), have experienced firsthand the anticipation around the monthly deliveries:
“The Imagination Library books that arrive in our mailbox are always so unique and, somehow, perfectly timed to topics and interests discussed in our house.
Our kids have been thrilled to receive books that are addressed to them specifically, inspiring them to read and re-read their books over and over again.”
The Imagination Library was founded by Dolly Parton, but is funded locally. Early literacy supporters like you make that possible by covering the costs of the books and postage.
The Imagination Library is cost effective: at a little more than $30 per year, per child — it is a small amount that makes a big difference.
And that is why we are asking for your continued support today.
A contribution of $30 will support a child in the program for a year; a donation of $150 will support a child during their entire five years in the program.
Please help us to continue to plant seeds of imagination in the minds of Eugene children in those crucial first days of their lives by giving them the gift of literacy.
Each year, Eugene Public Library Foundation hosts a photo challenge for the Imagination Library of Eugene. Meet this year’s winners, (pictured below) - the Tognazzini-Baker family! Keep an eye on our website and social media for a video interview with the family.
“As a neurodivergent family, it has been very important to find exciting and unique books to broaden our interests and keep reading. My son taught himself to read at age three, and my daughter reads far above her grade level.
I truly believe my kids are very strong readers, in part, thanks to the novelty and joy brought to us by our Imagination Library books. “
