State Superintendent Chris Reykdal is calling on Washington lawmakers to restore funding for the Imagination Library. The free book program serves more than 120,000 children statewide, including Olympia and Tumwater families.

Reykdal made the appeal on Tuesday, Aug. 25, the day country music icon Dolly Parton died at age 80 following what her team described as a brief battle with cancer, The Olympian reported.

Parton founded the Imagination Library in 1995 in tribute to her father, who could not read or write. The program mails one free, age-appropriate book each month to enrolled children from birth through age five.

"Our Imagination Library is a direct result of our partnership with her," Reykdal wrote in a social media post that day. "We are all better because of her life of caring and compassion."

OSPI also posted a statement calling on Gov. Bob Ferguson and the Legislature to fully restore the state's share of funding.

The program went statewide in 2022 after the Legislature passed House Bill 2068, partnering with the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to open enrollment to every child regardless of family income.

Each book costs $2.60, split evenly between local nonprofit partners and the state. At its peak, the program reached 121,000 children in all 39 counties through 46 local partners.

Locally, Timberland Regional Library serves as a program partner for Thurston County, connecting Olympia and Tumwater families with the monthly book deliveries.

But the Legislature cut the program's entire state share from the 2025–27 operating budget while facing a $12 billion shortfall, according to an OSPI news release. The previous budget had provided $2 million for the 2023–25 biennium. The April 2026 supplemental budget, signed by Ferguson, did not restore the money either, Seattle Red reported.

Reykdal used limited OSPI discretionary funds to keep the program running for one year after the cut. In a June 25, 2025, statement, he warned the program risked losing its statewide infrastructure if the funding gap lasted even one year.

Private donors have stepped in to bridge the gap. On July 31, the Roots & Wings Foundation committed $3 million to the Imagination Library of Washington for two years, alongside a contribution from The JTMF Foundation. Brooke Fisher-Clark, executive director of the Imagination Library of Washington, said in a July 31 announcement that the grants would "help thousands of Washington children once again receive a new book in the mail each month," The Jolt News reported. That private funding runs through June 2027.

Reykdal wants a permanent fix. The next regular legislative session begins in January 2027.

Flags at Washington state facilities remain at half-staff through Tuesday, Sept. 1, under orders from both Ferguson and President Donald Trump.