Dolly Parton Donates Hundreds of Millions of Books to Children
Country music legend Dolly Parton has donated hundreds of millions of books to children in the U.S. and several other countries, earning her the nickname “The Book Lady” from the young readers.
From the point of view the Associated Press (AP), Dolly Parton held an event on August 27 to celebrate the expansion of her book donation initiative, Imagination Library, in Missouri and Kentucky, where she expressed gratitude for the support from these regions. The event in Kentucky was attended by Governor Andy Beshear and his wife, Britainy Beshear. During the ceremony, Parton reminisced about her late father, Robert Lee Parton, who passed away in 2000, and how his difficult childhood prevented him from attending school. Parton described her father as the smartest man she had ever known, though he often felt ashamed of being illiterate. Inspired by him, she founded the Imagination Library in 1995 with the mission to improve children’s literacy. The program provides a free book each month to children under the age of five, regardless of their family’s economic situation.
Initially, Dolly Parton launched the project in her home state of Tennessee, but it has since expanded nationwide and internationally to Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Ireland. According to the organization’s website, approximately 250 million books have been distributed since the program began in 1995.
The Imagination Library operates through funding from Parton herself, as well as local and international partners. AP reports that Missouri is the only state to cover the entire cost of the program, spending a total of $11 million in the latest fiscal year. Most other states share the costs between local partners and the program itself. During the event, Parton expressed her happiness that her father lived long enough to see the program come to fruition. “My father was prouder of this than of me being a star. He felt like he had done something special,” Parton added. She also shared her hope that the Imagination Library will eventually reach every state in the U.S. Although the project is present in all 50 states, only 21 states currently ensure that all children under the age of five can enroll.
Governor Andy Beshear highlighted that the program reaches children in all 120 counties across Kentucky. More than 120,000 children—nearly half of Kentucky’s kindergarteners—are enrolled to receive books. According to Britainy Beshear, the program encourages families to read together and allows children to build their personal libraries at no cost before they start school.
“This is truly an excellent educational method to teach children to love books and learn to read at an early age,” she remarked.
Dolly Parton, 78, is a renowned American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is one of the most successful country music artists, with 26 singles reaching number one and 42 albums landing in the top 10 on Billboard’s country album charts. Over her nearly 70-year career, she has sold more than 100 million records, making her one of the best-selling artists in the world.
Parton is also the original writer and performer of the classic song “I Will Always Love You,” famously covered by Whitney Houston for the 1992 film The Bodyguard. She has authored a children’s book titled Coat of Many Colors (1996). Additionally, the famous cloned sheep Dolly was named after her, as the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell.
