Booksology 
Started in 1995 in Dolly’s hometown of Sevier County, Tennessee, the Imagination Library quickly gained popularity and was replicated nationally starting in 2000. Several other countries are currently participating in the program, and as of 2023, more than 200 million books have been distributed through the program. Approximately 1 in 6 children under the age of 5 in the United States participates in the program.
A local affiliate or partner must work with Imagination Library to set up this program. When Imagination Library secures wholesale pricing for monthly titles, it is our local affiliates that provide the funding and disseminate the information to the community. For example, partners are typically United Way organizations in different counties. In my community, the United Way pays for the books and sells the programs to parents across the county. My daughter didn’t have access to the Imagination Library program until she was 3 years old, when United Way stepped in to fund it, and since then, thanks to this partnership, she has received gorgeous and meaningful books every month. We are lucky to be able to afford new books and have a great public library at our disposal, but none of these things are universal to other people in my town or the wider area of my county. There’s also something powerful about knowing that my daughter and her peers in the program have read many of the same books, giving them some points of contact as they begin their formal educational journeys. Everything starts with receiving small engine that can and finish reading Attention kindergartens, we’re here! Each month’s titles reflect a variety of voices, perspectives, and experiences.
literary activism
In addition to the news available, we also include tips and tools to combat censorship and other bookish activities.
However, Imagination Library budgeting is not limited to county-level organizations. In some areas, the state funds the Imagination Library and splits the cost of the program 50-50 with county organizations. This will allow the program to be further implemented across the state, giving the poorest and most rural communities better access to literacy programs that wealthier urban communities have. Like state funding for public goods, it is a pool of taxpayer money that creates equity for everyone.
And that’s exactly why the program is being targeted in several states. Congress believes that providing free books to children from birth to age 5 is an unnecessary expense, despite growing evidence that such access is a key tool for success. The fact that these books create common connections and highlight different voices and perspectives is just a further impetus for targeting the program.
In February 2025, the Indiana General Assembly proposed cutting the small amount of funding the state allocates to the program. In 2024-2025, the Imagination Library line item was $4 million of the more than $51 billion state budget. The announcement came after the state itself cited the Imagination Library as the reason for the increase in children’s literacy rates. Due to the overwhelming response to this decision, Indiana’s governor has promised that the program will not be abolished. But instead of items being funded by the state budget, the governor’s wife decided to host her own fundraising event and collect private donations for the cause. By 2025-2026, Imagination Library has finally reached readers in every county in Indiana, but the governor’s wife has not met her original fundraising goal (nor did the governor re-fund it through the state). Big question marks remain over the program’s future, as state funding is not guaranteed and it relies on private donations raised by one individual. It wouldn’t be strange if it disappeared at any time.
In 2026, the battle to protect the Imagination Library intensifies.
Kentucky officials proposed cutting state spending on the Imagination Library this Congress as part of a cost-cutting measure in the budget. In 2021, Kentucky’s state budget will now match local sponsors of the program dollar for dollar. This year, it was proposed that the state would pay for one-third of the local matches (meaning partner organizations would pay two-thirds of the book costs and the state would pay just one-third). This was done despite evidence that the Imagination Library program helps Kentucky children perform better on reading comprehension tests. A new formula for funding programs would see nearly 80% of the county’s programs close within a year. More than 138,000 children across the state will receive books through this program.
The good news is that Kentucky’s program has been fully funded back into the budget thanks to advocates who spoke out about the harm this funding change would cause. It did not come without a long battle.
But the same cannot be said in Washington. The state eliminated funding for the Imagination Library program in the next budget. This cut was also a possibility last year, but the state restored funding to the program at the last minute. Eliminating state contributions would go against what lawmakers promised when they drafted and introduced the Free Books Program bill in 2022.
And this week, reporters revealed how California unsuccessfully tried to help fund the state’s Imagination Library.
As of this writing, two additional states are on hold in their attempts to develop and fund Imagination Library programs. Following initial excitement about the initiative in Alabama earlier this year, a state bill has been introduced to develop an imagination library in a preservation pattern that is on the Senate calendar but not yet on the Senate calendar. In December, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed a bill to develop and fund the Imagination Library. As of this writing, this also has not been added to the Senate calendar.
This is exactly what we have seen since attacks on access to education and literature began to increase in 2021. Despite evidence to the contrary, the belief persists that there is no value in educating young people or providing them with the most basic resources to develop their curiosity, literacy, and appreciation for the written word. There is no “consideration for children” here. All we can do is take from the most vulnerable and vulnerable, over and over again. Given all the research on the importance of early literacy, and especially early access to literature, including home libraries, for the most disadvantaged children, it is clear that the welfare of the population is not the government’s priority. The emphasis is on critical projects, pushing an agenda that requires more, not less, dependence on the state. As Trump himself has said since 2016, he loves uneducated people because they vote for him.
The next budget cycle will likely target imagination libraries in additional states, not just those where the fight has already begun. The fight to protect access to books, literacy, and education continues to grow, and those of us who are passionate about protecting access for young people need to be aware of what’s happening not only in libraries and schools, but also in research-backed programs like this one.
We are fighting for access and rights on countless fronts, and we are fighting alongside our neighbors, colleagues, and strangers to protect our Constitution. We are fighting over incredibly small differences in state and federal budgets and buckets of issues. But each of these battles is important. Because each one involves protecting the human dignity that exists in America and other countries.
Book Censorship News: April 17, 2026
- It doesn’t go up from here, so let’s start with the good news. A bill to protect librarians from harassment and prevent book bans has moved forward in Alaska.
- Some more good news: An Alabama bill that would have made it easier for partisan lawmakers to fire library commissioners who didn’t ban books they didn’t like has failed.
- Schools in Polk County, Florida, are removing books from the district due to pressure from the state.
- Most of the stories banned in schools last year were about women’s experiences. This is a great piece of work talking to students in real schools about the impact these bans have on students.
- Let’s look at the effects of book censorship in Russia.
- Queen Creek Unified School District (Arizona) passed a new policy this year that gives superintendents significant oversight when removing or vetoing titles in libraries and classrooms. The so-called “sexually explicit materials” mentioned in the policy have no place in schools or libraries, a pointless development designed to create a chilling effect. Arizona Women of Action is one group praising the policy.
- “The North Carolina House Oversight Committee has called leaders of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools to testify as part of the Legislature’s ongoing review of materials available in public school libraries.” This concerns 155 books that House Republicans believe violate the state’s “parental rights” bill. We know which parents have rights, but not all.
- The Texas State Board of Education has given preliminary approval to a nearly all-white required reading list for students across the state that includes the Bible. this That is indoctrination, not the freedom to choose what to read.
- A bill in Tennessee that would allow anyone to object to a book in a public library did not gain traction. This is done for a variety of reasons, such as when the sponsor needs to amend the bill or wants to work with more groups to update the bill, but in the meantime, here’s the gist: this is good news for now.
- Learn more about Texas school districts using AI to ban books under Senate Bill 13.
- North Carolina Congressman Brenden Jones wants to ban books about gender identity, sexual orientation, and sexuality from elementary schools across the state. I sigh.
- Redlands Unified School District (California) heard a Bible challenge this week. Remember, California has an anti-book ban, and pushing for a Bible ban by parents in reaction to banning other books won’t solve the underlying problem (and will create unnecessary ill will against people of faith, the vast majority of whom don’t agree with the book ban). The committee is shelving the books.
- The Grossmont Union High School District (California) is facing multiple lawsuits over the school board’s anti-LGBTQ+ policies. One of the lawsuits comes from nine librarians who claim they are not allowed to provide LGBTQ+ books to students or create LGBTQ+-positive spaces.
- The Rutherford County Library in Tennessee has selected an interim director after firing Luann James, who refused to relocate. It blocked access to children’s books and YA books for those between the ages of 18 and 130, which the Christian nationalists on the board disliked. He’s not a librarian.
- Their fight to bring together the latest information and books at the Fremont, Wyoming Public Library
prohibitchallenge policy. - The only applicant for the vacant Library Board seat at the Billings Public Library (MT), she revisits her partisan belief that it’s okay to ban books you don’t like. She was appointed despite being blatantly anti-library.
- “The American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland has filed a lawsuit against the Somerset County School Board, alleging that the school board is illegally withholding public records about book removals, curriculum decisions, and other school board practices.” If you’re not doing anything you know is wrong, there’s no need to hide your records.
- Pearland Independent School District (Texas) is changing its library book selection process, and all things considered, it seems like a positive change. Previously, all titles available for purchase had to wait 30 days for public comment. Going forward, the board plans to have a broader selection policy so that we don’t have to review each title upfront (although we can still review individual titles).
