FORTS & FUNDRAISING. Eau Claire author Katie Venit, pictured, debuted two picture books in 2025 – Cassini's Mission and Forts – and now, one of them will be delivered to some 700,000 kids through Dolly Parton's Imagination Library.

If having the children’s book she penned reach best-seller status wasn’t exciting enough, Eau Claire author Katie Venit got another enormous surprise late last year: That book, Forts, was chosen to be part of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

“I screamed, then cried,” Venit said of her reaction to the news, which she received in November from her editor at Viking Books. Being picked for Parton’s nationwide literacy program “is a tremendous honor for picture book writers,” she explained.

For a while, Venit had to keep the news under wraps — much like an excited kid ensconced in one of her book’s homemade blanket forts. Now, however, the word is out, and in a few months the book will be, too — arriving in the mail free of charge to an astounding 700,000 families nationwide.

Forts was acquired in 2020, though it didn't see the light of day until the summer of 2025. Now, the book will soon reach hundreds of thousands of families nationwide through the Imagination Library. 

“That’s an unbelievably huge number of kids!” Venit marveled. “My kids and husband figure that, if you count siblings … at least a million children could be reading Forts in August. I can’t even wrap my head around that.”

The lucky recipients will include children in Eau Claire County, who have received free books in the mail courtesy of the music legend’s literacy program over the past three-and-a-half years. Parton launched the Imagination Library in 1995, and since then it has grown from serving kids in one Tennessee county to children in five countries worldwide, who have received more than 300 million free books. (Children ages birth to 5 who are signed up for the program get an age-appropriate book each month; Venit’s book will be sent to those born in 2023.)

Venit hopes her book’s inclusion in the Imagination Library brings much-needed attention to an ongoing effort to keep the program running locally. “Once I caught my breath from the shock of being chosen, I realized I wanted — needed — to help this organization. Childhood literacy is so important; having books in the home is so important,” she said.

And keeping the books coming in the Chippewa Valley will require a community investment. While Parton’s foundation administers the program, the costs of buying and mailing the books is covered by donors in each community.

Locally, that’s primarily been the Pablo Foundation, which has been footing most of the bill since 2022. However, to make the program sustainable in the long term will require an endowment of $1.6 million, Jennifer Eddy, director of the Family Resource Center (FRC) Eau Claire said.

The FRC was contracted by the Pablo Foundation to lead the effort to create what’s been dubbed the Imagination Fund, which is managed by the Eau Claire Community Foundation. Already, one-quarter of the necessary money has been pledged, Eddy said, and the goal is to reach $1.6 million by September 2027.

Venit, pictured middle, at a fundraising party. While the local Imagination Library program has been available for over three years, it will require a hefty endowment to ensure its longterm sustainability. That fundraising effort, dubbed the Imagination Fund, is ongoing. (Submitted photo)

Venit has played her part in the fundraising effort, speaking to potential donors at home parties about her writing and the enduring magic of children’s books.

“Most kids can't read a picture book on their own until they’re 6 or 7, and even then they’ll struggle with some of the words and concepts,” Venit said.

“So I write picture books with the assumption that I’m creating a shared experience between a child and an adult,” she continued. “It’s amazing that Forts will get to foster connection for so many families. For this to happen with my debut book is completely unexpected and unbelievable.”

Find out how to make a pledge to the Imagination Fund at frcec.org/imagination-fund • Learn more about children’s author Katie Venit at katievenit.com • Read more about Venit's recently published books, including Forts, here