Dolly Parton, the country music legend whose Imagination Library program has delivered thousands of free books to Arizona children, died Aug. 25 in Nashville, Tennessee.
She was 80.
In a letter, Parton said she was inspired by her father, Robert Lee Parton, to start the book-gifting program that has gone on to deliver over 300 million books worldwide over the span of three decades. Although she described her father as the smartest man she knew, she said his inability to read may have kept him from fulfilling his dreams.
According to Read On Arizona, an early literacy improvement initiative, Parton wanted to build a library that would allow children to fall in love with reading and be inspired to dream, learn and care more.
In 1995, that goal became
a reality with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. Initially meant to distribute books across the country, the program has since expanded worldwide to deliver free books to over 3 million children every month. Thousands of those books are sent to children in Arizona thanks to the Dollywood Foundation and its partnership with multiple agencies in Arizona.
“Read On Arizona is proud to have played a part in expanding Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in our state. The literacy skills kids need to learn to read start developing in their early childhood years, and the Imagination Library helps families make reading part of their everyday routines. Her amazing legacy lives on with every book sent to every child," Lori Masseur, the early learning director for Read On Arizona, said in a statement.
The program is available for children from birth to age 5 and provides age-appropriate, high quality titles monthly at no cost.
Prior to 2023, Imagination Library had already reached 11,000 children in Arizona. That year, the Governor’s Office and the Arizona Department of Economic Security used federal pandemic relief funds to expand early childhood literacy. According to the Arizona Department of Education, the initiative made Imagination Library available to thousands more children across 126 additional ZIP codes in the state.
In a statement posted on Parton’s website, her family shared that a small private funeral would be held for her immediate family. In lieu of flowers, the family asked for donations to Imagination Library.
Click here to see if Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is available in your area.
Coverage of education solutions on azcentral.com and in The Arizona Republic is partially supported by a grant from the Arizona Local News Foundation’s Arizona Community Collaborative Fund.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Dolly Parton's book program helps thousands of Arizona children
