OHIO — The Dolly Parton Imagination Library of Ohio reached a milestone when it comes to participation, with 60% of eligible children enrolled in the program in January, Ohio first lady Fran DeWine announced Wednesday. 

That means more than 400,000 children, from birth to age 5, received books. In total, more than 770,000 Ohio children are participating or have participated in the program in the last five years, according to DeWine. 

“I’m so thankful to all of our partners in 88 counties for helping us to bring these books to kids, at no cost to their families,” said DeWine in a press release. “We’ve come so far from the 13% enrollment when we started the effort to create a statewide program in 2019.  And, of course, I am extremely grateful for Dolly Parton, who has sparked such an amazing opportunity for our little ones to learn before they start kindergarten.”

DeWine also announced that more than 15 million books have been mailed out to Ohio children since 2019. 

“Congratulations to First Lady Fran DeWine and to all of our Ohio program partners for reaching these amazing milestones!” said Dolly Parton in a press release. “Thank you for everything you do to support my Imagination Library and inspire a love of reading in children across the state.”