Bemidji Bookstore Fundraising for Local Branch of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library

Country music lost one of the all-time greats last week with the passing of Dolly Parton. But more than just being a songwriter and performer, she was also deeply invested in charity and giving back. One of those charities was Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, which sends books to young children worldwide and is continuing to make on impact on kids in northern Minnesota.

“Dolly Parton started the Imagination Library program because her dad actually couldn’t read or write, and she knew the importance of getting books in kids’ hands,” explained Denae Alamano, the United Way of Bemidji Area’s executive director. “There’s a lot of data and statistics about when a kid owns a book and a child owns a book, their love for reading can grow.”

Four Pines Bookstore in Bemidji is currently holding a fundraiser for the Bemidji United Way’s Imagination Library through Saturday, Sep. 5, with a portion of all sales at the bookstore, either online or in-person, going to support the program.

Each local Imagination Library sends one book every month to children in the program aged 0-5. The books are sent directly to the children’s house and have the child’s name on each one. The United Way of Bemidji Area sponsors kids in Beltrami, Hubbard, and Clearwater counties.

“I think it’s such an impactful thing to to know that maybe kids who wouldn’t be able to own a book, can,” said Alamano. “And even if their families could afford it, it doesn’t matter to Dolly, and it doesn’t matter to us, either.”

“For kids, it’s a great way to start writing and learning how to read and stuff like that, and storytelling is a wonderful, wonderful thing,” said Four Pines Bookstore Owner Gina Grinde.

The Bemidji United Way has been running the local Imagination Library since 2019 and has given out 46,000 books. There are currently 705 local kids enrolled to get the books every month.

“The Imagination Library picks the books for the year … and based on your age, you’ll get age-appropriate books,” added Alamano. “As kids sign up, as long as we don’t have a waitlist, they get into the program and those books start coming through that way. So the the cost is about $30 a kid, but that’s not something we ask for as you sign up a child. We’re not looking for you to donate to it, we’re looking for you to sign up your kids.”

Families can sign their kids up to receive books through the Bemidji United Way website.