After the state legislature passed a biennial budget that slashed funding for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, Indiana first lady Maureen Braun announced Tuesday a fundraising initiative to fund the program.

But Lake County library officials said a potential decrease in funding would result in pausing the program expansion that occurred under the previous state funding. Additionally, local officials raised concerns about the state finding new fundraising sources because local libraries already fundraise for 50% of the program costs.

“When you seek donations from private donors, you never know how long their funding source will last. It’s more of a constant. You will always be constantly seeking for private donations in order to continue to run your program, and I think that’s just more challenging to do,” Carol Daumer Gutjahr, the executive director of the Lake County Public Library.

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library mails monthly age-appropriate books to enrolled children from birth to 5 years old. The families receive the books for free as The Dollywood Foundation pays for administrative costs and negotiates wholesale pricing and local community partners fundraise to cover the cost of mailing and the agreed-upon wholesale book price.Maureen Braun will work with philanthropic organizations and state leaders to secure funding to support “the beloved book gifting program that promotes early childhood literacy,” according to a news release.

“Reading opens up a world of imagination for kids, and having books in the home benefits children in school and throughout their lives,” Maureen Braun said in the release. “I’m proud to champion this effort to keep Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library growing strong here in Indiana and to help Hoosier kids develop a lifelong love of reading.”

Jeff Conyers, president and vice chair of The Dollywood Foundation, said in a statement that he appreciates Governor Mike Braun’s commitment to early childhood literacy and the first lady’s championing of the Imagination Library, which brings books to over 125,000 Hoosier children across the state.

“We are encouraged by Governor and First Lady Braun’s support to ensure its future in Indiana. We look forward to working with the Governor and First Lady, state leaders, and Local Program Partners to keep books in the hands of Indiana’s youngest learners and strengthen this foundation for a lifetime of success,” Conyers said.

In the biennial budget approved in 2023, the state legislature approved $2 million in fiscal year 2023-2024 for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and $4 million in fiscal year 2024-2025. In the biennial budget the legislature passed at the end of the 2025 session, the funding for the program was eliminated.

In Indiana, the total Imagination Library cost per child per year is $31, said Julie Wendorf, the director of the Crown Point Library and Crown Point Rotary Club leader of the Imagination Library program. With state funding, local cost became $15.50 and the state paid the remaining $15.50, she said.

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library began through the Crown Point Library in 2014, Wendorf said, and was fully funded by the Crown Point Rotary Club. Currently, the Crown Point program has 781 children, she said.

In 2018, the Lake County Public Library began its Imagination Library program funded by the Lake County Public Library Foundation, which holds fundraising events throughout the year to fund the program, Gutjahr said.

Currently, the Lake County Public Library Imagination Library program has 2,177 children and 2,366 children have graduated out, Gutjahr said.

In total, 3,443 children in Lake County are currently enrolled in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, Wendorf said.

In addition to the Lake County Library and Crown Point Library programs, Whiting has 156 children in the program funded by the School House Children’s Charity and 329 children are covered by the Lake County Legacy Foundation in areas outside the Lake County Public Library district, Wendorf said.

When the state allocated funding for the program in 2023, Wendorf said many libraries across the state began participating in the program for the first time.

For areas, like Crown Point and Lake County libraries, which already had an established Imagination Library program, Wendorf said the state funding allowed them to expand the program’s reach.

To receive the state funding, communities had to show they could cover 50% of the Imagination Library costs to receive the remaining 50% funding from the state, Wendorf said. In Lake County, Hammond, East Chicago, Gary and Lowell didn’t establish Imagination Library programs until February because they didn’t have the 50% local funding until recently, she said.

At the end of 2024, Wendorf said she was able to reach an agreement with the Dean and Barbara White Family Foundation to secure 50% of funding for 5 years to provide the Imagination Library books to Hammond, East Chicago, Gary and Lowell. The program in those communities began taking registration in February, she said, with about 350 children already enrolled.

If state funding ends, the Dean and Barbara White Family Foundation funds will be used in less than 5 years because those funds would then have to fully fund the program, Wendorf said.

As the state begins to fundraise for the program, Wendorf said state officials may turn to the Dean and Barbara White Family Foundation to further fund the program. But the foundation already helps fund the local portion, she said.

“Many of the local partners were concerned that the fundraising that would be happening at the state level would in essence challenge their local funding,” Wendorf said. “It came to a shock to many when it was excluded from the budget.”

When the state allocated 50% of funding through the budget, Gutjahr said it helped the Lake County Public Library program expand because the state provided a steady stream of revenue.

“We knew that we could accept additional families because here we had this chunk of money that we were guaranteed to receive, and we knew that it was for additional growth,” Gutjahr said.

If the state fundraising money doesn’t match what the state has offered the last two years, Gutjahr said the Lake County Public Library would have to pause accepting new children into the program, which requires funding a child until he or she turns 5 years old.

“That’s the sad part, is knowing that you might have to delay registering a child for Imagination Library if you’re hesitant if the money is going to be there going forward,” Gutjahr said. “Once you accept a child into the program, whether they enroll at birth or at age two or three, you are committed to paying for that child until their fifth birthday.”

But, Gutjahr said the Lake County Public Library Foundation will ensure that Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library remains available for children.

In Porter County, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library began about a year and a half ago as a partnership between the Porter County Public Library System, the Westchester Public Library and the Porter County Community Foundation, said Porter County Public Library System Director Jesse Butz.

Currently, 3,388 Porter County children are enrolled in the program, Butz said, and 808 children graduated out of the program.

With the shift in state funding from the state budget to fundraising, Butz said it’s unknown how that will impact local libraries. Given that the program is still funded in the current fiscal year, Butz and Wendorf said the program will be state funded for the next few months.

“It’s going to be a transitionary period as that 50% match goes from the state funding to the private funding,” Butz said. “I’m just excited that we’re able to continue the program.”

akukulka@chicagotribune.com