Imagination Library of Johnson County starts $1M campaign to cover loss of state funding

FRANKLIN, Ind. (WISH) — The Imagination Library of Johnson County (ILJC) launched a $1 million matching campaign after losing state funding from the Indiana General Assembly.

The Johnson County Community Foundation (JCCF) pledged $500,000 to support ILJC through a dollar-for-dollar matching campaign, with the goal to create a permanent endowment for the program.

“This is where our community comes in,” JCCF President and CEO Kim Kasting said. “We believe in the power of books and the impact of early literacy, and we know our neighbors do, too.”

ILJC was launched in July 2017 to address school readiness and literacy rates in Johnson County. The program provides free books to children from birth to age five.

Since September 2017, ILJC has mailed over 218,000 books to Johnson County children, with a cost of $16 per child per year. To sponsor a child for all five years costs $80, and currently, 4,800 children are enrolled in the program.

In February, Gov. Mike Braun announced that Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program will no longer get funding from the State of Indiana. At the time that funds were cut, the Dollywood Foundation said 125,000 children in Indiana were enrolled in the program. Imagination Library had previously gotten a $6 million matching grant from former Gov. Eric Holcomb to expand the program to the entire state in 2023.

July 31, first lady Maureen Braun announced a $500,000 donation for the program.

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