The program is rooted in a childhood of poverty and illiteracy \u2014 roots that those who knew Parton said she never denied or abandoned. <\/p>\n
Parton, 80, died Tuesday after a brief battle with cancer<\/a>. And although the country western superstar collected accolades \u2014 including 10 Grammy Awards, a National Medal of the Arts and two Academy Award nominations \u2014 across her storied career, Parton said her contributions to children\u2019s literacy were most precious to her. <\/p>\n In 2023, the American Library Assn. awarded the singer-songwriter, book lady and philanthropist its highest honor \u2014 lifetime membership \u2014 to recognize her lasting impact on literacy and inspiring a love of reading in children. <\/p>\n \u201cDolly Parton represented the very best of America,\u201d ALA President Maria McCauley told The Times on Tuesday, adding that, like people all over the world, she\u2019s been playing Parton\u2019s music since news of her death broke, particularly the song \u201cI Can See the Light of a Clear Blue Morning<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cThat song has so much resonance right now,\u201d she said, noting its lyrics capture a theme of resilience and faith in overcoming dark times.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to make sure that Dolly\u2019s vision, that reading is for everyone, becomes a reality. That\u2019s something that we can all carry forward in memory of Dolly.\u201d<\/p>\n Parton\u2019s Imagination Library gifts a book a month to children signed up for the program from the time they are born until they are 5 years old. Parton described the program best when speaking<\/a> with librarian Carla Hayden in 2018. \u201cWe send the book in the mail with their name on it. It\u2019s not in the care of Mom and Dad \u2014 it\u2019s got their little name on it, and they love to think, \u2018This is mine.\u2019 They wait at the mailbox. They get their little books, and to them, it\u2019s personal.\u201d<\/p>\n Parton understood the novelty of owning your very own book. Growing up in the Great Smoky Mountains town of Sevierville in east Tennessee, Parton was the fourth of 12 kids. Her father, a tobacco sharecropper, couldn\u2019t read or write, and the family lived in a one-room cabin with no electricity. There were no books in the home, aside from the Bible. <\/p>\n The singer\u2019s upbringing, particularly her father\u2019s illiteracy and his shame around what he considered a shortcoming, was what inspired her to launch the Imagination Library. With the help of her dad, they set out to foster a love of reading in the kids of Sevier County. Reading, she believed, was the gateway to dreaming, and dreaming, the first step in the path toward success. <\/p>\n By 2000, the program had expanded beyond the Smoky Mountains and into a nationwide movement. By 2003, the Imagination Library had mailed 1 million books to budding readers. After the United States, the gifting initiative launched in Canada in 2006, then the U.K. in 2007, Australia in 2013 and the Republic of Ireland in 2019. <\/p>\n The program operates on a shared funding model split between the Dollywood Foundation \u2014 which manages the central overhead, administration, and global book-selection strategy of the Imagination Library \u2014 and local community partners including businesses, school districts, small or large organizations, or individuals who share in the mission.<\/p>\n Selina Brown, a U.K. author whose book \u201cMy Rice Is Best<\/a>\u201d was selected by the Imagination Library this year, said that 14,000 copies had been distributed across the U.K. to children in underprivileged areas. \u201cTo know that my book has gone into the hands of young children across the U.K. is absolutely incredible,\u201d she told The Times.<\/p>\n Brown said that public figures often make shallow promises and vanity moves, but \u201cwith Dolly Parton, you can actually see her work manifest, and it really makes an impact. In the U.K. alone, there are children who do not have books in their house, and because of Dolly Parton, they now have their own library.\u201d<\/p>\n
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