California librarian grilled about Dolly Parton book program

California legislators have grilled the state’s top librarian about huge sums of money tied to a statewide literacy program linked to country music legend Dolly Parton that are missing.

And it’s the kids who may suffer.

Greg Lucas, the state’s top librarian, has been accused of failing to account for almost $650,000 related to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library during, a literacy initiative meant to deliver free books to young children across the state.

“You don’t have receipts requested six times. You don’t have bank statements requested six times from this committee,” Republican State Sen. Shannon Grove said during a budget hearing on education.

“You don’t have documents to show where that money was spent.”

“Where’s the money?”

State officials created a nonprofit and allowed the new organization’s executive director — who also ran a Sacramento consulting firm — to pay that firm at least $208,652, according to committee records.

In 2022, Grove, a Republican from Bakersfield who has also called for stricter controls on criminal diversion programs, authored legislation with then-Democratic Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins to launch a statewide version of the program through the California State Library.

Gov. Gavin Newsom later signed the bill into law, approving $68.2 million in state funding to cover half the cost of books through a dollar-for-dollar match with local partners. Lawmakers allowed up to 10% — about $6.8 million — for administrative costs and set a goal of enrolling roughly 65% of eligible California children within five years. The funds remain available through June 30, 2028.

But the program stalled for nearly two years after funding was approved.

Instead of sending money directly to the national program, the California State Library entered into a $19.2 million contract in August 2024 with a nonprofit called the Strong Reader Partnership. Corporate filings listed a deputy state librarian as the nonprofit’s agent for service of process and used addresses associated with the State Library.

The nonprofit received $4.8 million from the state, according to legislative documents.

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Financial records reviewed by Senate staff show that about $4 million of those funds were moved into a money market account that generated roughly $132,000 in interest.

The nonprofit reported about $1.2 million in total spending, but bank statements only documented roughly $555,871 in expenses, leaving about $649,000 that lawmakers say has not been fully backed up with receipts or invoices.

“You can’t show that even the money that was allocated for $5,000 … where any resources were used to reach the kids that want to foster a love for reading,” Grove said during Thursday’s hearing.

“That makes no sense and that reeks of horrific no transparency and potential fraud.”

Legislative staff said they requested additional documentation from the State Library six times between November 2025 and February 2026 but had not received the records as of late February.

Lucas, California’s state librarian since 2014, defended the agency’s actions during the hearing.

“As I’ve said before, and I’ll say it again, we’ve pledged to get you the answers that you want,” Lucas told Grove. “We’ve requested them over and over again.”

He added, “So now we have a deadline of a week, and we’ll get them to you by then.”

The Strong Reader Partnership nonprofit was shuttered in September, according to Politico.

State officials said roughly $36.9 million in unspent funds were returned to the state in December 2025, along with about $3.86 million recovered from the nonprofit.

Still, lawmakers say major questions remain about how some of the nonprofit’s money was spent — and why the State Library created and funded the organization in the first place.

Lucas is expected to return to the Legislature next week with additional answers and financial records lawmakers say they have been requesting for months.