From as early as Kaylee Chrystal BA’20 can remember, reading has served as a source of discovery and grounding through life’s challenges. Now, she strives to put books into the hands of Oregon’s children as the Community Engagement Coordinator for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Oregon.
“Oregon is having a literacy crisis: two-thirds of children are not meeting their third grade reading benchmark,” Chrystal says. “Our mission is to partner with local organizations to provide brand new, high-quality, age appropriate books to children at no cost to the child and their family. Any child under the age of five in Oregon can now receive these books directly to their home.”
In 2025 alone, 89,604 children in Oregon participated in the Imagination Library and almost 800,000 Imagination Library books were mailed to families across the state, including Spanish-English books and options in Braille. Chrystal, who began her work with the Imagination Library in summer 2024, has traveled around Oregon to find and support Local Program Partners who enroll children, promote the program, and fundraise for the cost of books and mailing.
“I support 56 Local Program Partners across Oregon, and it’s magic seeing grassroots work implemented throughout these communities,” Chrystal says. “Whether they live in urban or rural settings, children gain equal access to high-quality books and share common reading experiences. It truly levels the playing field.”
What makes Chrystal’s work especially moving is her investment in the community that nurtured her passion for literacy and helping others. A self-proclaimed bookworm from Bend, Chrystal began her early literacy advocacy as part of the Oregon State Operations Coordinator for Stand for Children. She was their Beat the Odds scholar in 2015, receiving a four-year scholarship to pursue higher education in the humanities.
“Willamette became pivotal to my higher education journey,” Chrystal says. After her program at Concordia University in Portland lost funding three years into her degree, she knew she needed to find a university in Oregon with her same community and intellectual values. “Willamette was one of two colleges in the state that offered a Humanities major and took me in with open arms. The Humanities program gave me a foundational grounding that I rely on for both my career and personal life.”
Working with faculty like Professor of History and Humanities Sammy Basu helped Chrystal finalize her undergraduate work. “We deeply explored the pillars of human experience, and this provided me with the crucial foundation needed for my career, which happily centers around human interactions and connecting with families, communities, and organizations. Working with critical thinkers like Dr. Basu gave me what I needed to be successful in my career.”
Chrystal also had the chance to explore music, a passion shared with Dolly Parton, playing trombone and singing in Willamette’s choir and receiving a music scholarship.
Ultimately, Chrystal’s community values bolstered by a Willamette education help her promote Dolly Parton’s mission to inspire a lifelong love of reading by bringing books to children worldwide. “I try to bring that little cup of ambition, so to speak, back over to Oregon,” Chrystal adds.
