Starting Right
What happens early in life matters for a lifetime. Giving children a strong start helps them learn, grow, and take full advantage of the opportunities around them.
That’s why The Benter Foundation invests in early reading, museum-based learning, and efforts that help young people save for their future. These initiatives open doors to a brighter future. And each program helps ensure that Pittsburgh’s youngest residents can share in the region’s progress and, one day, help to shape it.
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
What if every young child in Pittsburgh had a full bookshelf at home? That simple idea can influence a child’s future—and the future of our city. By mailing free books home to every young child in Pittsburgh, we can honor Dolly Parton’s legacy and help young Pittsburghers “Start Right.”
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library provides free, high-quality books to children from birth through age five. Every month, a new, age-appropriate book arrives in the mail. If families enroll at birth, children receive up to 60 books at no cost before age five, regardless of income.
Early exposure to books strengthens brain and language development. This is important during the first formative months, when interactions from reading stimulate the neural pathways that support learning. Reading together creates emotional connections between children and adults, and those bonds foster emotional well-being and resilience. Research shows that having a small collection of books at home helps children arrive at kindergarten ready to learn—and a strong start in school sets students up for success for years to come.
The Benter Foundation has supported Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in Pittsburgh since 2018. In 2026, the Foundation made a five-year, $1.8 million grant to Reading Ready Pittsburgh. This grant covers the cost of books for 7,000 children over five years, as well as enrollment, marketing, and fundraising efforts to inspire greater community participation.
Working with Mayor Corey O’Connor, the City of Pittsburgh, and a growing list of funders and allies, we want every young Pittsburgher to have a book-filled home and opportunities for lifelong success.