Dolly Parton, the "Queen of Country" singing icon with a personality as bold as her signature blond coif and rhinestone-encrusted outfits, has died. She was 80 years old.
Parton's influence extended beyond her celebrity, though. A noted philanthropist, she donated millions of dollars for college scholarships through her Dollywood Foundation, provided $1 million for the research that helped to create the Moderna vaccine for COVID-19 during the 2020 global pandemic, and established the Imagination Library, a gifting program that mails free books to children from birth until they begin school.
Her generosity has left a lasting impact on children across Ohio. Here's how.
How many library books have Ohio, Cincinnati received? Dolly Parton's Imagination Library leaves lasting impact
Parton's death comes just weeks after the state's honorary Dolly Parton Day, which
is celebrated on Aug. 9. In 2022, Gov. Mike DeWine declared the day for Dolly as an ode to her Imagination Library.
As of March 12, 2025, the Imagination Library of Ohio has mailed over 20 million books to children in the state since the program's establishment in August 2019. Kids up to age 5 in all of Ohio's 88 counties can be registered to receive an age-appropriate book.
Since 2025, Hamilton County alone has received over 1.6 million library books from Parton's program. Here's a breakdown of how many books each county within the Cincinnati region has received, as of March 12, 2025.
- Brown County: 83,464 Imagination Library books mailed.
- Butler County: 687,836 Imagination Library books mailed.
- Clermont County: 337,047 Imagination Library books mailed.
- Clinton County: 80,481 Imagination Library books mailed.
- Hamilton: 1,670,101 Imagination Library books mailed.
- Warren: 432,972 Imagination Library books mailed.
How to sign up for Dolly Parton's Imagination Library
To sign up for Parton's Imagination Library, visit imaginationlibrary.com and input the required information to check availability.
Once all the information has been completed, a child's first book will arrive 8-10 weeks after signing up. Then, a monthly book will be delivered until the child's fifth birthday.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: How Dolly Parton made a lasting impact on Ohio kids
