Her grandkids immediately asked her to read to them, she said.
“I saw the excitement,” DeWine said. “These are kids who have books, but that excitement of getting books in the mail addressed to them — I was just surprised by it.”
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
After seeing their excitement, she wanted to learn more about Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library so other children could experience that, too.
More than 20 million books later, DeWine — after helping to establish the statewide nonprofit, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Ohio, and building a coalition of partners — has continued to advocate for the program, visiting CareSource this week to recognize an employee-led donation to the book gifting program.
Dayton-based health insurer CareSource has an annual workplace giving program, which combines employee contributions to support nonprofit partners working to address community needs. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Ohio — which provides Ohio children up to age 5 with free, age-appropriate books mailed directly to their homes — is one of three nonprofits CareSource employees supported through the organization’s 2025 campaign.
Employees gave more than $255,000 to three nonprofit organizations benefiting children and families in communities CareSource serves: Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Ohio, Firefly Children and Family Alliance in Indiana and FOCUS (Families of Children Under Stress) in Georgia.
“Their giving reflects our belief as an organization that health care reaches beyond coverage and services to actions that strengthen and support healthier, more resilient communities,” said Ellen Miller, vice president of community relations and the CareSource Foundation.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
About $135,000 is going to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Ohio, which will fund more than 100,000 books for the program.
“We know that early childhood literacy gets kids to school, and we know that kids in school are healthier,” said Erhardt Preitauer, president and CEO of CareSource.
There are more than 400,000 children in Ohio participating in the program, totaling 62% of the state’s eligible children or 70% of households with eligible children, according to the Ohio Department of Children and Youth.
All Ohio children from birth to age five are eligible to be enrolled in the program at no cost to their families by signing up at ohioimaginationlibrary.org.
CareSource administers one of the largest Medicaid managed care plans in the U.S., offering health insurance — including Medicaid, Health Insurance Marketplace and Medicare products — to more than two million members across 12 states. Across the CareSource brands, the company saw more than $13 billion in revenue in 2024, according to nonprofit tax filings, with earnings exceeding $386 million.
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