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A nonprofit organization created by the California State Library to improve childhood literacy has spent more than $1 million in taxpayer money but has yet to put a single book in the hands of a child.

Lawmakers grilled State Librarian Greg Lucas and other officials about the organization鈥檚 spending in , with one lawmaker saying it raises 鈥渟erious questions.鈥�

Lucas, however, blamed the shortcomings on the fact that legislators themselves pulled the organization’s funding prematurely. After the hearing, he told CalMatters in a statement that 鈥渆very taxpayer dollar spent on this program is fully accounted for.鈥�

In total, lawmakers allocated $70 million in 2022 to improve children鈥檚 love of reading with the intent of giving some of the money to Dolly Parton鈥檚 Imagination Library and some of it to a local organization.

The California-based Strong Reader Partnership was formed by the state library as the local partner, and it was originally set to receive $19 million. But in 2024, with very little of the money spent, lawmakers redirected the money to the Dollywood Foundation, which oversees Parton鈥檚 Imagination Library. Ultimately, the project has been able to meet many of its goals, the Dollywood Foundation this year. In all, it has served more than聽160,000 children in California and distributed聽 nearly 3 million books. The foundation is administering the program but not donating any money toward the project.

Although the $1 million spent by the Strong Reader Partnership is small, relative to the total project budget, Sen. , a Pasadena Democrat, and Sen. , a Bakersfield Republican, said in the hearing that it鈥檚 their job to ensure it was still spent correctly, especially since the money was designated for children.

In the hearing, P茅rez and Grove questioned the Strong Reader Partnership鈥檚 finances, repeatedly stating that its accounting practices and business activities were ineffective, negligent or potentially in violation of its state contract. Grove pressed Lucas about why he created a separate nonprofit instead of giving the money directly to the Dollywood Foundation, even though she herself required the state library to do so.

In 2022 Grove authored that created the program. The bill required 鈥渢he State Librarian to coordinate with a nonprofit entity, as specified, that is organized solely to promote and encourage reading by the children of the state.鈥� The Dollywood Foundation, which is national and based in Tennessee, was not eligible to be that nonprofit entity.

When CalMatters asked Grove why she is criticizing the state library鈥檚 formation of a nonprofit when her bill required it, she responded by email but didn鈥檛 answer the question. Instead, she reiterated her criticisms of the Strong Reader Partnership, saying that its money was 鈥渟quandered away without putting books in kids鈥� hands.鈥�

Letters to lawmakers

State lawmakers first questioned the Imagination Library project in 2024, when budget officials, faced with closing a nearly $50 billion , told lawmakers that most of the money for the program remained unspent nearly two years after its launch. That year, the governor keeping the money intact but requiring 90% of it go directly to the Dollywood Foundation instead of the Strong Reader Partnership or any local nonprofit. The foundation did not respond to CalMatters鈥� questions about its relationship with the Strong Reader Partnership.

Sonya Harris, executive director of the Strong Reader Partnership at the time, that 2024 bill and said she sent letters to legislators opposing it.

Lawmakers said speaking about the bill was a violation of her contract. 鈥淵ou’re attempting to influence legislation when it’s explicitly stated that you are not supposed to use state taxpayer dollars to do so. Do you agree?鈥� asked P茅rez during the April 7 hearing. Harris didn鈥檛 answer the question.

Also during the hearing, P茅rez repeatedly questioned the organization鈥檚 financial management, referencing instances when checks bounced, reports were not completed or documents arrived months after lawmakers had requested them. 鈥淎s far as I can see here, there (were) no local partnerships that you all established in order to facilitate this program over a two-year period,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e are not able to understand what you did with these dollars and that鈥檚 the whole purpose of this hearing.鈥�

Contracting with nonprofits comes with risks

The roughly $1 million in state funds that went to the Strong Reader Partnership is聽 less than a thousandth of 1% of the state鈥檚聽 total spending, but that鈥檚 not the point, P茅rez said

鈥淐omments have been made about the amount of money that this is, and that it might be small relative to the budget,鈥� she said before closing out the hearing. 鈥淏ut for me, as a public servant, I take this very seriously. We need to ensure that when we’re making a commitment to provide something as simple as books to children, that we’re actually delivering on that commitment.鈥�

State and local lawmakers routinely sign contracts and grant money to businesses, including many nonprofit organizations, to enact public services or programs. In the process, taxpayers 鈥渓ose transparency,鈥� said Susan Shelley, vice president of communications for the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association, a group that opposes higher taxes. 鈥淲hy is the state government or the local government turning them over to nonprofits instead of having their massive bureaucracies handle these things where someone is accountable?鈥�

Shelley said the responsibility lies both with the nonprofits and the Legislature, especially in this instance, because Grove鈥檚 bill required the California State Library to work with a local nonprofit.

Normally, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association is strongly aligned with Grove. Last year, the organization gave her based on her voting record on tax-related issues.

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