{"id":256,"date":"2026-03-04T16:36:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T16:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demingnews.com\/?p=256"},"modified":"2026-03-04T16:36:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T16:36:18","slug":"free-dolly-parton-books-available-for-deming-and-luna-county-kids-birth-to-age-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/demingnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/free-dolly-parton-books-available-for-deming-and-luna-county-kids-birth-to-age-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Free Dolly Parton Books Available for Deming and Luna County Kids, Birth to Age 5"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

DEMING – Families in Deming and across Luna County can sign up children from birth to age 5 for Dolly Parton\u2019s Imagination Library, a free program that mails one high-quality, age-appropriate book each month, with children able to receive up to 60 books before kindergarten. New Mexico\u2019s Early Childhood Education and Care Department sponsors the statewide effort so families in all 33 counties can participate at no cost. (governor.state.nm.us<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a message promoting the program, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham highlighted the impact early reading can have, saying, \u201cResearch shows that kids read to regularly enter kindergarten with vocabularies 10x larger than peers with fewer books at home.\u201d (Facebook<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Imagination Library began in 1995, inspired by Dolly Parton\u2019s desire to build a love of reading for young children in her home community, and it has since grown into a major early-literacy program. Official program materials note it is active in all 50 U.S. states and operates in five countries: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Republic of Ireland. (imaginationlibrary.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here in New Mexico, the Governor\u2019s Office says nearly 2 million books have already been mailed to families statewide, and the state\u2019s FY26 expansion funding was intended to reach tens of thousands more children in every ZIP code. (governor.state.nm.us<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the funding question, the program is widely described as a shared model: Dolly Parton\u2019s Dollywood Foundation runs the program, while community and state partners typically help cover the \u201cat-cost\u201d book and mailing expenses in their areas. Because of that structure, there is not one single public number that cleanly represents \u201chow much Dolly personally donates,\u201d but the Foundation\u2019s public nonprofit filings show annual expenses in the tens of millions of dollars. (imaginationlibrary.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Deming and Luna County families, enrollment is straightforward: use the program\u2019s \u201cCheck Availability\u201d page to register by address\/ZIP code, or contact the New Mexico program line for help at 575.519.4464. (imaginationlibrary.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DEMING – Families in Deming and across Luna County can sign up children from birth to age 5 for DollyRead More →<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":257,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["entry","author-john-k","post-256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-local-news","category-state-news"],"yoast_head":"\nFree Dolly Parton Books Available for Deming and Luna County Kids, Birth to Age 5 - DemingNews.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/demingnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/free-dolly-parton-books-available-for-deming-and-luna-county-kids-birth-to-age-5\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Free Dolly Parton Books Available for Deming and Luna County Kids, Birth to Age 5 - 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