Top California librarian questioned about missing $650K tied to Dolly Parton child literacy program
California state librarian Greg Lucas is facing scrutiny from lawmakers after roughly $650,000 tied to a statewide literacy program connected to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library could not be accounted for.
The issue surfaced during a Thursday Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 1 on Education hearing, which examined how funds were distributed for California’s participation in the book-gifting program.
Documents shared by the subcommittee as part of its hearing agenda claim that a nonprofit created to help administer the program reported spending roughly $1.2 million, while bank statements provided to Senate budget staff showed $555,000 in expenditures, leaving about $649,000 without supporting documentation.
"I find this to be incredibly concerning," said state Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, D-Pasadena, chair of the subcommittee. "There’s $650,000 that’s been unaccounted for in a program, a bipartisan effort that was intended to increase literacy among children. This is incredibly serious."
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State Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, also criticized the lack of documentation, saying the situation raised serious concerns about transparency and oversight.
"That makes no sense," Grove said during the hearing. "And that reeks of horrific no transparency and potential fraud."
The California state library did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Lawmakers said Senate budget staff had requested financial records from the Strong Reader Partnership, the nonprofit created to help administer the program, multiple times, including receipts, invoices and bank statements to corroborate expenses.
According to the subcommittee, those requests were made on several occasions between November 2025 and February 2026, but the documentation had not been provided.
During the hearing, Lucas acknowledged that lawmakers had received bank statements accounting for roughly $555,000 in spending but disputed the claim that the funds were unaccounted for.
"I don't believe that's correct," he said. "I mean, we received a final report on the disposition of the money by the Strong Reader Partnership, which has expressed, and we've passed this on to you as well, the difficulty in obtaining some of this information because they no longer have any money or members of the partnership since the money was transferred to the Imagination Library."
He added that his agency has repeatedly asked the nonprofit for additional records and pledged to continue requesting the information.
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A spokesperson for the state library told ABC10 in a statement: "The California State Library takes seriously its responsibility to ensure transparency and accountability in the taxpayer dollars entrusted to it. The State Library has provided the Legislature with all documentation in its possession and has repeatedly requested additional records from the Strong Reader partnership. The California State Library remains committed to cooperating fully with all legislative oversight and maintaining accountability in the administration of public funds."
Pérez gave Lucas seven days to produce the financial records, saying the subcommittee expected invoices and receipts detailing how the money was spent.