Making Books a Birthright.
"Before he passed away, my Daddy told me the Imagination Library was probably the most important thing I had ever done."
August 26, 2026. The BBBP and I signed on with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in 2014 to help give local children the best start in life. She was inspired by her own dad, who couldn’t read. While our hearts are sad, we’re more inspired than ever to continue Dolly’s mission. Together, we are building a brighter future for our children. With thanks to all who support our work — and everyone who reads with their little ones. Here’s to Dolly. We will all Always Love You. Seena and The BBBP
Link to Richmondside article about BBBP and Dolly’s Imagination Library!
We enroll children under age five who live in our two IL service areas covering Berkeley & Emeryville and Richmond & San Pablo to receive new age-appropriate books by mail at no cost, monthly until the month they turn 5.
Imagination Library mails books to 3 million+ US children monthly. Depending on when you enroll your child, it may take up to 10 weeks for the first book to arrive. After that, they arrive monthly - if you move you must let BBBP know, there is no forwarding service, the books are mailed Bulk Rate.
BBBP pays all costs of providing the Imagination Library Program, including monthly invoices paid to Imagination Library for books mailed to our enrollees. Like all IL partners we set our own service area boundary lines. We look forward to Countywide Programs for Alameda and Contra Costa. If you’d like to see that too let your County agencies and Foundations, public and private, know you want Imagination Library for all in our Counties!
For enrollment information go to Enroll page. Para obtener información sobre la inscripción, visite la página de Inscripción
We serve only / Servimos a solomente
Berkeley+Emeryville & Richmond+San Pablo
The BBBP is a Partner of / es somos socios de Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
BBBP 2025 by the numbers: 26,929 books were mailed to children. 2,766 children got books.
41 California of California’s 58 counties have Countywide IL Programs. Alameda and Contra Costa are not among them . . Please let County leaders know we want Imagination Library for here for Alameda & Contra Costa Counties. There are Imagination Library Representatives working to make that happen, I’d be delighted to connect anyone interested in learning more about Countywide Programs to them! (green=covered. 5 to go in Northern CA!)
Go to our 2025 Survey results! Lots of participant Comments:)
“Love receiving the books and how different they are every month. My child LOVED “Good Night Gorilla”, she loved it so much we were reading it 10-15 times a day! She now enjoys receiving & opening the books herself & leafing through it on her own before we read it together” (repetition strengthens neural connections that support fluent literacy!)
“My son gets excited he’s getting mail, makes it fun to read more.”
LISTEN: EdSource Podcast-BBBP interview
READ: Richmondside Article July 2025 Imagination Library’s Research
WHY WE DO THIS WORK
Literacy is a Civil Right.
It is a cornerstone of social justice and equality.
A person with weak or no literacy cannot fully access and participate in our society’s movements, institutions and systems.
Lack of literacy leaves a person functionally handicapped. We want all children to grow up and become full participants in shaping their future, their world. We need them to be literate.
Ownership of books from birth predicts Kindergarten Readiness better than any other metric or circumstance.
POR QUÉ HACEMOS ESTE TRABAJOLa alfabetización es fundamental para la justicia social y la equidad. Una persona con escasa o nula alfabetización no puede acceder ni participar plenamente en los movimientos, instituciones y sistemas de nuestra sociedad.
La falta de alfabetización supone una discapacidad funcional.
Queremos que todos los niños crezcan y participen plenamente en la construcción de su futuro y de su mundo. Necesitamos que sean alfabetizados. Las investigaciones demuestran que tener libros en casa desde la infancia predice la preparación para el jardín de infancia mejor que cualquier otro factor.