Books defined Michelle Williams Buckman’s childhood in Nashua.
Her mother, Diane, was a reading specialist who retired from the Nashua School District with 40 years of experience in public education. She’d spent the first tender, formative years of her daughters’ lives feeding their imaginations and filling the bookshelves in their home with children’s books.
“We just assumed everybody grew up with a houseful of books and caregivers who read to us. Then, of course, you realize that not everybody grows up the same way and not everyone has the same access,” Buckman said.
Diane Williams passed away unexpectedly at age 74 from an aneurysm.
Grasping for a positive vessel into which she could channel her grief, Buckman contemplated a mural she’d seen years earlier on a visit to Nashville, Tenn., an image of the late Dolly Parton reading to a small child seated on her lap. A gilded halo encircled the queen of country music’s voluminous curls. The infant, with rotund cheeks painted in profile, trained its eyes on a green-sleeved book.
Parton had started her Imagination Library as a tribute to her dad, who’d been illiterate. The program partners with nonprofits to ship free books to children ages 0 to 5 across five countries. During Parton’s lifetime, the program, operated by the Dollywood Foundation, distributed more than 300 million books.
Out of Buckman’s sorrow struck the lightning rod of inspiration. As a tribute to her mom, who’d made literacy her life’s pursuit, Buckman envisioned an organization partnered with Parton’s to promote reading in Hillsboro County, and Diane’s Library was born.
“A lot of people assume Dolly’s legacy is as an entertainer, but the most tangible impact she’s had is getting free books into the hands of kids,” Buckman said.
Through Diane’s Library, any preschool-aged child living in Hillsboro County is eligible to enroll in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. Since 2024, Buckman and her sister and co-founder, Christine Williams, have distributed 66,000 free books and enrolled upwards of 6,000 children.
And owing to Buckman’s assiduous advocacy, the same opportunity may soon become available to every child across the state of New Hampshire.
Beginning last year, Buckman said she began contacting anyone with any sliver of political power whom she could think of — Gov. Kelly Ayotte, U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander — to push for the state to join the Imagination Library.
A model already existed. As Buckman likes to say, “Of course, Dolly had thought of everything.”
The Imagination Library fronts the cost of the books themselves. States interested in offering statewide Imagination Library programs can partner with nonprofits to split the cost of shipping and handling fifty-fifty.
In New Hampshire, expanding the Imagination Library partnership is expected to cost the state about $750,000 per year, according to Sen. Daryl Abbas.
Abbas, a Republican from Salem, and his Democratic colleagues, senators Donovan Fenton of Keene and Suzanne Prentiss of Lebanon, heeded Buckman’s call. The bipartisan trio plans to file legislation in September to bring the Imagination Library to all New Hampshire families.
Buckman said all three senators made verbal commitments to her that they would put forward the bill the week before Parton’s passing. More than coincidental, the timing was fortuitous: Already, Diane’s Library has registered 300 new children in the week since Parton died.
An uptick in interest can only be a good thing, Abbas said.
“If it ends up costing more, then it means more kids ended up enrolling than we expected, and that’s not really a bad thing,” he said.
Abbas sees the bill as a no-brainer investment in children’s elementary-school preparedness, helping to build and reinforce a lifetime love of reading and helping strengthen the bonds that bind families together.
His children, ages 5 and 8, won’t directly benefit from the Imagination Library, but from experiencing the benefits of reading in their home, Abbas said he can only see the bill paying wider social dividends down the line.
“It’s a way to relate to your kids, too. ‘What does that say? Can you read this line?’ You can see their progress. You can reference it. ‘Are you grumpy like the grumpy monkey?’ You show them different emotional pictures, ‘Which one are you feeling? Which one’s daddy?’ It’s a unique time when you’re dealing with a three-year-old,” Abbas said.
“We take a lot of pride in saying that New Hampshire is one of the best places to raise a family, and this is a reiteration of that,” he added.
