Maureen Braun Reports Literacy Initiative 90% to Fundraising Goal

Indiana First Lady Maureen Braun announced Tuesday that her private fundraising campaign to sustain Dolly Parton's Imagination Library of Indiana has reached 90% of its target for the July 2025 through June 2027 funding cycle, a milestone she shared at her second annual Indiana First Lady's Breakfast at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

The fundraising initiative, which Braun launched in 2025, was made necessary after Gov. Mike Braun cut the program's state funding entirely from the 2025 budget. That decision reversed a 2023 commitment by then-Gov. Eric Holcomb, who had allocated $6 million in the state's biennium budget to expand the Imagination Library to all 92 Indiana counties. Braun's privately led campaign has now nearly replaced that appropriation, though neither her office nor the governor's office has disclosed the full fundraising goal or the exact total raised to date.

The program's first major contribution was a $500,000 donation reported last year. Sources differ on the donor's identity, with the Journal Gazette attributing the gift to CenterPoint Foundation and WFYI reporting it came from CenterPoint Energy.

Despite the funding uncertainty, the program continues operating across all 92 Indiana counties, with over 143,000 Hoosier children currently enrolled, according to Katie Mullins, Indiana's community engagement coordinator for the Imagination Library. The national initiative sends free, high-quality books each month to children from birth through age five.

"Books are more than just paper and ink; they're a doorway for imagination and curiosity to enter your life," Braun said at the breakfast. "Indiana's childhood literacy rates are improving across the board, and students who had previously been left behind are now rising up. Mike and I are so proud of these accomplishments in education, and look forward to building on that progress."

Indiana's statewide literacy numbers have tracked upward alongside the program's expansion. From 2024 to 2025, the state's literacy rate increased by nearly five percentage points, the largest single-year gain in state history, and Indiana has now recorded four consecutive years of improvement. Most states see movement of only one to two percentage points in a given year. On the state's IREAD assessment, 87.3% of Indiana third graders now demonstrate proficient reading skills, and more than one-third of Indiana elementary schools have reached the state's goal of 95% reading proficiency.

"One of the reasons I'm so passionate about this cause is that the benefits of what we're doing aren't just for today, but they'll have an impact throughout these kids' lives," Braun told supporters. "The value of early childhood literacy compounds over a lifetime."

Gov. Mike Braun, who attended the breakfast and posed for photos with the First Lady, praised her work. "I like to remind people that Maureen was the first entrepreneur in our family," he said. "She's a skilled leader who brings people together, and it's no surprise to me that her initiative with the Imagination Library has been such a success."

Questions about what happens to the program after the current funding cycle closes in June 2027 remain unanswered. Braun's office has not provided a timeline for when or whether the program would be guaranteed to continue beyond that date. Families in Dubois County and across Indiana interested in enrolling children can visit imaginationlibrary.com.