Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is known internationally as one of the most successful children’s literacy campaigns of all time. Founded by multi-hyphenate icon Dolly Parton in 1995, the nonprofit has spent the last 30 years placing books into the hands of children who might not otherwise have access to them. And in 2024, they passed the 250 million mark of books distributed. So, who is Dolly Parton, what is The Imagination Library, and what inspired its creation? Discover this and more in this edition of Bookstr Trivia.
Dolly Parton: From Queen of Country Music to The Book Lady
Fans of Dolly Parton know that she is a powerhouse in the industry with a list of talents a mile long. She’s a singer-songwriter-musician with thirteen CMA Awards and eleven Grammys. She’s a producer and philanthropist who has campaigned for income equality since 1980 and partially funded the development of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccination. She is the founder, owner, and self-described “Dreamer-in-Chief” of the theme park Dollywood. But to hundreds of thousands of children across the United States and beyond, she is known simply as “The Book Lady.”
The fourth of twelve children, Parton was born in 1946 to an impoverished farming family in the Appalachian Mountains of Tennessee. Her mother, Avie, was a homemaker who taught her children folklore and Welsh ballads, and her father, Robert, was a sharecropper who never learned to read. Parton’s father would become one of the biggest inspirations for what would eventually become The Imagination Library, as his illiteracy affected his opportunities and self-worth despite his not having access to early education:
“In the mountains, a lot of people never had a chance to go to school because they had to work on the farms. They had to do whatever it took to keep the rest of the family going.”
Parton often refers to her father as “one of the smartest people [she’s] ever known,” despite his inability to read, something that was deeply embarrassing to the man himself. Knowing that the lack of access to education and literature was a major contributor to Robert’s illiteracy, she was determined to use her fame and influence to help children from similar backgrounds.
The Beginnings of Imagination
In 1988, Parton founded The Dollywood Foundation to inspire children in her home county of Sevier, Tennessee, to achieve educational success and decrease high school dropout rates. The foundation rolled out several initiatives to achieve these goals in its early years, including Parton personally promising every 7th-grade and 8th-grade student in Sevier County $500 if they graduated high school. The efforts proved incredibly successful, reducing the dropout rate of these classes from 35% to 6% and galvanizing community support for struggling students and their families.
These early successes with middle-grade and high school students led Parton’s Foundation to branch into early childhood literacy, launching a flagship program in 1995 called Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. The idea was simple: send a free picture book once a month to every child enrolled, from birth until they enter kindergarten at age five. The program operated at no cost to the children’s families and was not restricted by household income or citizenship status. Children enrolled from birth could expect to receive sixty books throughout their enrollment, mailed directly to their door and addressed to them.
Love Will Grow If You Let It
The very first book order for The Imagination Library in 1995 was for a relatively small group of 1,700 children. While the program initially only served Sevier County, it quickly proved a runaway success. Over the next decade, it expanded territory by territory, creating affiliations with other nonprofits and local partners to bring more and more children the gift of literacy, one book at a time. By 2004, the program was statewide in Tennessee, and by 2006, it had launched its first international division in Canada.
Thirty years later, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library now operates in all fifty US states in some capacity — with eleven statewide programs and nine statewide expansions in progress — as well as programs in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Republic of Ireland. The program currently sends out over 3 million books per month to registered kids, and it is estimated that one in every seven children in the United States is enrolled.
Stay Humble, Work Hard, Be Kind
Parton herself remains deeply tied to the organization and the program, frequently celebrating milestones by performing book readings and music for The Imagination Library events. She speaks about the program in interviews with an obvious — and deserved — sense of pride, especially in how much good it has done for young readers and how it honors her late father’s legacy.
“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.”
As Parton explains, The Imagination Library is a measure of kindness that benefits her equally as its founder and leader. While the efforts and achievements of Parton and The Imagination Library would be described by most as nothing short of extraordinary, the woman herself insists that she received as much benefit from the program as the children it serves.
“[I]t makes me feel good that I’ve helped and I’ve been blessed enough to be in a position to help […] I cannot get it into my head and through my heart, why people can’t be nicer and better to one another. We’re supposed to love one another, and love our neighbor as ourselves, but that seems to be such a hard thing to do. Yet it doesn’t take that much time to be kind and to be nice.”
Recommended Reading
If you want to learn more about the life and work of Dolly Parton, Bookstr recommends these wonderful titles:
Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics by Dolly Parton with Robert K. Oermann
In her own words, Parton details the inspirations behind 175 of her songs over a 60-year career in music-making. Featuring photos and illustrations from her personal archive, this title is a must-read for lovers of Dolly’s music.
Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones by Dolly Parton with Holly George-Warren and Rebecca Seaver
Filled with personal stories and 450 full-color photographs, Parton details her lifelong passion for fashion, including the flashy stage clothes that became part of her signature look.
Dolly Parton: 100 Remarkable Moments in an Extraordinary Life by Tracey E. W. Laird
Chronicling 100 significant moments in Parton’s life, from her debut at The Grand Ole Opry at the age of 13 to her million-dollar contribution to COVID-19 vaccine research, this book covers the icon’s life of stardom and philanthropy.
More Recommended Reading:
- Dolly Parton All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track by Simon Benoît, Damien Somville, and Lalie Walker
- Dolly on Dolly: Interviews and Encounters with Dolly Parton edited by Randy L. Schmidt
- Coat of Many Colors by Dolly Parton, Illustrated by Brooke Boynton Hughes
Dolly Parton’s legacy will surely be one not only of music and entertainment but also of kindness, generosity, and childhood literacy. We hope you’ve enjoyed learning more about Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and the remarkable woman behind it; as Dolly would say, “You’ll never do a whole lot unless you’re brave enough to try.”
Want to learn more about bookish culture and history? Check out more of our Bookstr Trivia articles.
To see our reading recommendations based on our Bookstr Trivia articles, check out our Bookshop bookshelf.
