By Julie Young
She is one of the most revered and celebrated multi-hyphenates of all time. In addition to being a global music icon and an award-winning singer/songwriter with over 3,000 compositions in her catalog, she is
also an accomplished actress, best-selling author, successful businesswoman, and the largest employer in Sevier County, Tennessee. But for millions of children, Dolly Parton is simply “The Book Lady,”
a title she wears with pride.
Launched in 1995, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library works to spark a love of reading in children everywhere by gifting a high-quality, age-appropriate book free of charge each month from birth to age five. What began as a local program for a few hundred children in her home county became a national effort in 2000 and, since then, has expanded into an international initiative that delivers more than 3 million books each month to children across the United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.
Since its inception, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has gifted over 300 million books worldwide and
has no plans of slowing down any time soon.
“You can never get enough books into the hands of enough children,” Parton said.
Once upon a time
As most fans of her music know, Parton grew up in a one-room cabin on a rural ridge in the Great Smoky Mountains near the town of Sevierville. While her mother, Avie Lee (née) Owens, took care of the home and cared for the children, her father, Robert Lee Parton Sr., worked as a sharecropper, tobacco farmer, and occasional construction worker to keep his family clothed and fed. Despite never learning how to read or write, Parton described her father as one of the smartest men she had ever met and credited him with instilling in his children a sense of hard work, humility, and pride. However, she also knew that his inability to read took an emotional toll on him and crippled him from reaching his full potential in life.
Although she was a big dreamer with musical ambitions at a young age, Parton knew that her key to success was staying in school and earning her diploma. She was proud to be the first member of her family to graduate from high school. One day later, she moved to Nashville to start her music career, and the rest, as they say, is history.
After achieving unparalleled success in music and film, Parton sought ways to give back to others. She established The Dollywood Foundation in 1988 to inspire children in her home county to achieve educational success. She created the Buddy Program, which offered a $500 incentive to seventh and eighth-grade students who graduated from high school. The program was so successful that it reduced the dropout rate from 35 to 6%.
However, it was her deep admiration for her father, combined with an awareness of the doors that literacy could open, that inspired the “Jolene” singer to create Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. It has evolved into the flagship program of The Dollywood Foundation and has been recognized for improving literacy habits, kindergarten readiness, and supporting grade-level reading by the third grade. From its humble beginnings, the Imagination Library has experienced exponential growth over the past three decades. In the U.S. alone, the library reaches one in seven children under the age of five, which is not only an achievement that reflects remarkable growth, but also showcases the power of a simple, life-changing gift: a book.
“Before he passed away, my Daddy told me that the Imagination Library was probably the most important thing I had ever done,” Parton said. “And that’s saying a lot!”
Supporting characters
Naturally, Parton doesn’t do it alone. Although The Dollywood Foundation covers the overhead and administration expenses, coordinates the Blue Ribbon Book Selection, provides the secure online database, and manages ordering and fulfillment, the real heroes of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library are the thousands of local partners and organizations that have taken her dream and made it their own. Local program partners cover the wholesale cost of the books, as well as the postage to mail them, while also promoting the program and enrolling children in their communities. Statewide partners (where applicable) provide additional support to expand access. They help fund and coordinate statewide efforts while supporting volunteers and staff to ensure that all children — regardless of location — can benefit from free reading materials.
“The average cost of the program per child, per month is $2.60 or around $31 per child per year. In states where there is a state match, the cost decreases to $1.30 per child per month to around $15 for the whole year,” said Katie Mullins, community engagement coordinator for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Indiana.
Mullins joined Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in 2023, bringing an extensive background in public libraries and a firm belief that every child should grow up in a home filled with books. She said that the opportunity to be part of such a well-known and respected program allowed her to combine many of her passions — early literacy, philanthropy, and community-building partnerships — in the best
possible way.
“I have been promoting literacy my entire career, and a love of books and reading offers the foundation for literacy skills that set children up for future success,” she said. “Encouraging increased interaction with children and their caregivers around books and reading strengthens their bond and promotes positive brain development.”
Although the Imagination Library has been available in Indiana for over 20 years, it has only been a statewide program since August 2023. Before that time, only 54 counties participated in the program, with many of these counties having limited coverage. Today, every county in the state has an Imagination Library program, and thanks to the work of local and state partners, enrollment has doubled over the past two years from 70,000 to 138,000. To date, nearly 2.9 million books have been mailed to Hoosier children of all socioeconomic backgrounds.
Mullins said there is often a misconception about who is eligible to take part in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, and the answer is, everyone!
The universality of the program is deeply personal to Parton. As a child, she knew her family struggled to make ends meet, but she didn’t realize how poor they were until they began receiving handouts from others. Because of that experience, Parton decided that the Imagination Library would be for every child and not merely for those “in need.”
“After 30 years, we’ve seen the power of that decision. A universal program means that more books reach more children overall and, importantly, even more books find their way into the hands of children who need them the most,” Mullins said.
Another beautiful outcome is that children, regardless of their socioeconomic status, start kindergarten on a more level playing field.
“They’ve all shared the experience of reading the same books, creating a sense of connection and leveling the playing field for every child,” Mullins said.
Choosing the right books
When children sign up for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, the first book they receive is “The Little Engine That Could” by Watty Piper. The story of a little train’s optimism and hard work, embodied in its “I think I can” chant, was one of Parton’s favorites as a child, and she said she saw herself in the title character. Each subsequent book is thoughtfully selected through a carefully developed process, with age appropriateness as the guiding principle. Selections also reflect the values of The Dollywood Foundation and Parton herself — love, respect, appreciation, kindness, and empathy. Braille and audio Imagination Library books are also available through a partnership with the American Printing House for the Blind (APH).
According to Mullins, each year, the library’s exclusive publisher, Penguin Random House, presents new children’s titles to the book selection committee, a group of highly respected early childhood experts. Over the course of a three-day review, the committee evaluates each title and selects those that best represent outstanding children’s literature. Books with political, overtly religious, or polarizing themes are excluded to keep the focus on the mission: to inspire a love of reading. Parton herself is the author of two books in the Library: “I Am a Rainbow”, which discusses the various moods a child experiences, and “Coat of Many Colors,” a literary version of her hit song about bullying and acceptance.
A success by any measure
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has been the recipient of numerous awards and accolades, including the 2000 Honors Award from the Association of American Publishers and the 2012 Best Practices Award from the Library of Congress. Although her own children were older when Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library was launched in her county, Mullins has a niece and nephew in Tippecanoe County who are eager participants in the program.
“My niece stops everything when it is time to get her new book from the mailbox, and immediately her parents have to read it to her,” Mullins said. “Then at bedtime, she eagerly snuggles in to once again read her new book.”
It’s an experience that is replayed countless households every time “The Book Lady” sends out another story. Some parents cherish the smile and squeal that accompany each new arrival, while others note how their child’s confidence grows with every story.
Parton understands that parents and caregivers are a child’s first teacher, and they set the course for developing their child’s love of books and reading. She also knows that reading to a child from birth to age five not only promotes their future reading ability, but also their academic success.
“The first step is always the hardest,” Parton said, “but if you can read, you can teach yourself anything!”
Photos courtesy of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
By the numbers
1995
The year the Imagination Library was founded
Over 300 million
The number of books gifted worldwide since the library’s inception
Over 138,000
The number of Hoosier children enrolled in the program
Nearly 2.9 million
The number of books gifted to Hoosier children so far
$2.60
The cost of the program for each child per year
Give a child the gift of books
Want to sign up the child in your life for the Imagination Library? Visit imaginationlibrary.com/check-availability to determine if the program is available in your area.
