Date: 23 October 2025



Lord Mayor with guests at celebration of Imagination Library

The youngest members of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library were celebrated in Belfast City Hall today, Thursday October 23, at an event hosted by Lord Mayor, Councillor Tracy Kelly.

Belfast City Council teamed up with the Dollywood Foundation to gift free books to the first 75 Belfast babies registered at Belfast City Hall from 1 October 2025, whose parents or guardians would like them to benefit from the programme. Each participating child will receive one free book per month until age five. 


The programme’s mission is to inspire a love of reading by gifting books free of charge to children from birth to age five, through funding shared by Dolly Parton and local community partners. Dolly Parton started her Imagination Library in 1995 for children in her home county and today, her programme spans five countries and gifts over 3 million free books each month to children, regardless of the family’s income. Earlier this year, during the programme’s 30th anniversary, the incredible milestone of the 300 millionth book gifted was reached.


Speaking at the event, the Lord Mayor said: “It’s a joy to see these little budding bookworms at City Hall today – and what better time to celebrate than during the tenth annual Book Week NI? Thanks to council’s support, these children will be encouraged to develop a love of reading through membership of Dolly Parton’s amazing Imagination Library.


“As a Mum, I know just how important reading with and to children is – and from as young as birth. My two kids devoured books from a very young age and as well as helping us develop a close bond, reading together boosted their social skills, speech, and memory. It’s also well documented that reading encourages empathy, creativity, and of course imagination.


“Our investment in this initiative will help to deliver on our Belfast Agenda pledge of helping to create the conditions for learning and opportunity for all of our residents.”


Meg Fletcher, Regional Director, The Dollywood Foundation UK, added: “We’re delighted to see the Imagination Library expanding in Belfast. Dolly was inspired to start the programme by her father’s experience of not being able to read or write and seeing how this held him back in life. The Imagination Library is all about helping children, everywhere, to develop a love of reading from the earliest years. Globally we send books to over 3 million children each month and we want to see this continue to grow, so we’re very grateful for Belfast City Council’s support.”


Gözde Ozan, Mum to baby Oliver, one of the 75 babies registered as new members of the Imagination Library in Belfast, said: “Books are very important for children’s learning and development, so it’s good to see this partnership between Belfast City Council and the Imagination Library providing a free book each month to 75 Belfast children over the next five years. We’re very lucky to get this opportunity for our family.”