Dolly Parton made a special appearance recently in Washington D.C., not only to celebrate a huge milestone for her book-giving literacy program, but also to launch a new venture with the nation’s largest library.
Alongside Carla Hayden, who heads the Library of Congress, the iconic country singer dedicated the 100 millionth book from her Imagination Library to the research library. Through the nonprofit, she has been donating millions of books to children for more than 20 years.
Parton also helped kick off a new initiative between the Imagination Library and the Library of Congress, in which a book will be read during a live-stream and shared with libraries across the U.S.
The award-winning singer and philanthropist read her children’s book “Coat of Many Colors” to children in the audience.
“I did take a lot of pride in this today,” she said. “Not only for myself but also for my dad and all the little kids out there that are benefiting.”
Parton, who grew up in the Great Smoky Mountains in east Tennessee, told Hayden that she started the program in 1996 as a tribute to her father. She said he was a hardworking man but had not attended school or learned to read and write.
Parton said her family only had one book in the house as she was growing up: The Bible. She said her mother read it and told stories from it to her and her 11 siblings.
“It was the first book that we had in our home and the one that meant the most,” she said.
Parton said that as a child, she loved to read fairy tales. She said she now reads at least 52 books a year.
“I love to read,” she said. “Books have always been a really special thing to me.”
Parton got her father involved in Imagination Library and they set out to give books to the children in their county.
Now, Imagination Library, which sends books to children monthly, has fans all over the world. Parton said she was happy that her father had lived long enough to see the program blossom.
As part of the Imagination Library, parents can sign children up and a book is mailed monthly to their home until they enter kindergarten. Parton said she’d even received letters from children who’d “graduated” from the program expressing sadness that they’d no longer receive books.
She called Imagination Library “one of the most precious things” she’d done in her life.
“It kind of inspires you to dream,” Parton said of reading. “If you can dream, that’ll lead you to success and to other things. ... So it’s important to get the books in the hands of all these special little kids so they can start early.”
The initiative expanded across the US in 2000, then set up in the UK in 2007 and Australia in 2013.
