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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 amongst children. This is incredibly serious.”
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California State Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez speaks during a press conference at Pasadena City Hall in Los Angeles County on June 23, 2025. (Sarah Reingewirtz/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)
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…
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