California’s top librarian faces scrutiny over $650,000 in missing funds from a literacy program established in East Tennessee in 1995 by country music star Dolly Parton.
During a recent education budget hearing, California State Librarian Greg Lucas was questioned by state lawmakers about the funding, as noted by a report from a news outlet.
The controversy stems from a foundation, the Imagination Library, founded by Parton to distribute free books to children. According to reports, the program is expected to launch across California by 2023.
Parton’s initiative began in her hometown to ensure children had access to free literature.
At the hearing, state Senator Shannon Grove expressed concerns about the missing documentation for the funds.
She pointedly asked, “Where’s the money?”
Lucas was appointed to lead the library by former Governor Jerry Brown in 2014.
Records indicate that state officials had authorized over $208,000 to be paid to the executive director of the new organization, which formed a nonprofit and also ran a consulting firm in Sacramento.
A statewide version of the literacy program was passed into law in 2022, allocating more than $68 million in state funding for books. The law allows up to 10% of that amount, around $6.8 million, to be used for administrative costs, with a goal of enrolling about 65% of California’s eligible children within five years.
However, after a period of inactivity, the state library entered into a $19.2 million contract in late 2024 with a nonprofit, Strong Leaders Partnership, which dissolved in September. The organization received over $4.8 million from the state, with $4 million transferred into a money market account.
Although the nonprofit claims to have spent around $1.2 million, bank statements reportedly reflect spending exceeding $500,000. Currently, nearly $650,000 remains unaccounted for, and Lucas has vowed to seek clarification from officials.
Addressing the absence of documentation during the budget meeting, Grove told Lucas, “We don’t have the receipts that were requested six times by this committee, we don’t have the bank statements that were requested six times. … It makes no sense and reeks of an appalling lack of transparency and possible fraud.”
