Dolly Parton, the iconic 78-year-old country music legend, is making a profound impact on childhood literacy through her Imagination Library book giveaway program. Inspired by her father, Robert Lee Parton, who grew up in poverty and never learned to read, Dolly has dedicated the past three decades to ensuring that children across the United States and beyond have access to books from an early age.
The Imagination Library, which began in 1995 in a single county in Tennessee, has now expanded to all 21 states where children under the age of 5 can receive free books mailed directly to their homes each month. To celebrate this milestone, Parton made special appearances in Missouri and Kentucky on Tuesday, sharing her father’s story and promoting the program’s continued growth.
“In the mountains, a lot of people never had a chance to go to school because they had to work on the farms,” Parton shared at the Folly Theater in Kansas City, Missouri. “They had to do whatever it took to keep the rest of the family going.” She recalled her father as “one of the smartest people I’ve ever known,” though he was embarrassed by his inability to read.
Motivated by her father’s experience, Parton launched the Imagination Library, which now distributes over 3 million books each month to children in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia. To date, more than 240 million books have been delivered through the program.
In Missouri, where the state covers the full cost of the initiative—amounting to $11 million in the latest fiscal year—Parton expressed pride in the program’s success. Most other states support the initiative through cost-sharing models.
“The kids started calling me the ‘book lady,’” Parton recounted. “And Daddy was more proud of that than he was that I was a star. But Daddy got to feeling like he had really done something great as well.”
In Kentucky, where the Imagination Library reaches children in all 120 counties, Governor Andy Beshear and First Lady Britainy Beshear joined Parton in celebrating the program’s achievements. More than 120,000 Kentucky children, nearly half of the state’s preschoolers, are enrolled to receive books. The First Lady highlighted the program’s role in encouraging families to read together and providing children with their own personal library before starting kindergarten.
“It’s really a great way to teach children when they’re very young to learn to love books and to learn to read,” Parton said during the event in Lexington, Kentucky.
Parton, who received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award a decade ago, aims to see the Imagination Library in every state. While there is already a presence in all 50 states, legislation ensures that children under 5 can enroll in 21 states. Reflecting on her father’s influence, Parton said, “That was kind of my way to honor my dad because the Bible says to honor your father and mother. And I don’t think that just means, ‘just obey.’ I think it means to bring honor to their name and to them.”
An accomplished author herself, Parton’s works include the 1996 children’s book “Coat of Many Colors,” which is part of the Imagination Library. During her appearances, she sang the famous song of the same name, which recounts a childhood experience that left a deep mark on her. The song, inspired by a coat her mother made from patchwork fabric, helped heal the hurt of being ridiculed by classmates.
“The fact that that little song has just meant so much not only to me, but to so many other people for so many different reasons, makes it my favorite song,” she said.
When asked in Kentucky about her legacy, Parton reflected, “I want to be remembered as a good ole girl who worked hard and tried to make people happy and the world a better place. Of course, I want to be known as a songwriter and a singer, but I honestly can say that the Imagination Library has meant as much, if not more, to me than nearly anything that I’ve ever done.”
Paraluman P. Funtanilla
Paraluman P. Funtanilla is Tutubi News Magazine's Marketing Specialist and is a Contributing Editor. She finished her degree in Communication Arts in De La Salle Lipa. She has worked as a Digital Marketer for start-up businesses and small business spaces for the past two years. She has earned certificates from Coursera on Brand Management: Aligning Business Brand and Behavior and Viral Marketing and How to Craft Contagious Content. She also worked with Asia Express Romania TV Show.
