California’s top librarian grilled over missing $650k from Dolly Parton’s literacy program
California lawmakers are demanding answers from the state’s top librarian over hundreds of thousands of dollars connected to a children’s literacy program tied to country music icon Dolly Parton that cannot currently be accounted for.
At the center of the dispute is the Imagination Library program, which provides free books to young children. Legislators say nearly $650,000 linked to the program has not been properly documented, raising concerns that the initiative meant to help young readers could instead be plagued by financial mismanagement.
During a legislative budget hearing focused on education spending, Republican State Sen. Shannon Grove sharply questioned State Librarian Greg Lucas about the missing records. Grove told Lucas that repeated requests from lawmakers for financial documentation had gone unanswered.
According to Grove, the committee asked multiple times for receipts and bank statements related to the program’s spending but still has not received the information needed to verify how the money was used. She pressed Lucas directly, asking where the funds had gone and why there was no clear accounting.
The controversy stems from how California chose to run its statewide version of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. In 2022, Grove partnered with then–Democratic Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins to pass legislation creating the program through the California State Library. Governor Gavin Newsom later signed the bill, approving $68.2 million in state funding. The plan was designed so the state would cover half the cost of providing books while local partners would match the funding.
Lawmakers allowed up to 10 percent of that total—about $6.8 million—for administrative expenses. The goal was to reach roughly 65 percent of eligible children in California within five years. The funding is scheduled to remain available through June 30, 2028.
Despite the funding approval, the program experienced major delays and did not get fully underway for nearly two years.
Instead of sending money directly to the national Imagination Library organization, the California State Library signed a $19.2 million contract in August 2024 with a nonprofit group called the Strong Reader Partnership. Corporate filings listed a deputy state librarian as the organization’s agent for service of process and included addresses connected to the State Library.
Legislative records show the nonprofit received $4.8 million in state funds. Senate staff reviewing financial records found that about $4 million of that amount had been transferred into a money market account that generated roughly $132,000 in interest.
The nonprofit reported approximately $1.2 million in total spending. However, the bank statements provided only confirmed about $555,871 in documented expenses. That left roughly $649,000 in spending that lawmakers say has not been supported with receipts, invoices, or other proof.
Grove criticized the lack of documentation during the hearing, saying lawmakers cannot verify that even small portions of the allocated funds were actually used to reach children or promote reading.
Legislative staff said they asked the State Library six separate times for more financial records between November 2025 and February 2026, but those documents had still not been delivered by late February.
Lucas, who has served as California’s state librarian since 2014, told lawmakers the agency is working to gather the requested information. He said the library has repeatedly asked for the records and promised that the Legislature would receive answers soon.
The Strong Reader Partnership nonprofit was shut down in September, according to reporting from Politico.
State officials say about $36.9 million in unused funds were returned to the state in December 2025. An additional $3.86 million was recovered from the nonprofit organization.
Even with those funds returned, lawmakers say there are still serious unanswered questions about the nonprofit’s spending and why the State Library created and funded the group rather than sending money directly to the national literacy program.
Lucas is expected to appear again before legislators next week with further explanations and the financial documentation that lawmakers say they have been requesting for months.
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