Top California librarian questioned about missing $650K tied to Dolly Parton child literacy program

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.

"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."

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.

According to the subcommittee, those requests were made on several occasions between November 2025 and February 2026, but the documentation had not been provided.

"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.

Pérez gave Lucas seven days to produce the financial records, saying the subcommittee expected invoices and receipts detailing how the money was spent.