Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Homecoming 2025 Virtual Conference

Inspired by her father’s inability to read and write, Dolly Parton started the Imagination Library in 1995 to serve the children of her hometown in Sevier County, Tennessee.

From those small beginnings, the program has grown into a global movement. This June marked 30 years of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, and here in Australia we are proud to have been part of that journey for the past 12 years. In that time, we have sent close to 2 million books to children across Australia, with 50,000 children receiving books this month alone.

In June 2025, the 30th anniversary was celebrated with the Homecoming 2025 Virtual Conference. Nearly 1,000 participants from five countries joined more than 50 sessions on fundraising, research, networking and partnerships.

With so many insightful sessions available, we’ve highlighted a few that we think will be most valuable for our community partners:

8. The Power of Parton: Forming Partnerships and Creating Win/Win in Your Local Community
9. Building Bridges: Strengthening Community Ties to Boost Imagination Library Registration
12. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and Public Libraries: A Powerful Partnership
15. Reaching the Hard to Reach: Boost Your Registration
21. Strategies for Writing Successful Grants
23. Perfect Partners in Public Libraries
30. The Impact of Shared Book Reading and The Imagination Library
31. Creating an Evidence-Based Case for Support

So grab a cuppa and dive in