Dolly Parton is known, of course, for her music, her movies and her unmistakable personality. But one of her most lasting legacies has nothing to do with a stage.
For decades, her Imagination Library has been putting free books into the hands of children nationwide, helping make sure a child’s access to literacy isn’t determined by their family’s resources.
At the Library of Congress in 2018, Parton’s Imagination Library had reached a massive milestone: donating 100 million books to children. The program, which she started in 1995, was inspired by her father, who never had the opportunity to learn to read.
“My dad got to live long enough to see a lot of it coming to be, and he took such pride in the fact that the little kids called me the book lady,” Parton said. “He was prouder of that than anything, so that it started from a true place in my heart, and it’s done so much good for so many people through the years.”
D.C. Councilmember Charles Allen created Books from Birth, a program inspired by Imagination Library that gives children new books every month from birth to the age of five. Allen had the chance to meet Parton when she was in the District.
“Today, more than 100,000 kids have gotten these books, more than 4 million books in D.C. So, you know, there’s a child somewhere in D.C. right now that has books because of Dolly Parton, and they just know her as the book lady. Just that got books into their hands,” he said.
Montgomery County educator Daman Harris has seen firsthand what access to books can mean for a child. He said Imagination Library has had a profound impact on children he’s taught over the years, and that impact goes beyond simply putting a book in a child’s hands — it’s about giving children the chance to see themselves and their communities in the stories they read.
“And those kids, they have such diverse representation in the books with the language, with the topics, with the way the students look, the characters representation,” Harris said. “Students see themselves, they see their communities, they see the issues that they care about at three, four, five, right.”
Parton’s impact is immeasurable, but she admitted when she spoke at the Library of Congress that she never imagined her Imagination Library would have the impact it did. It’s fitting, though, as she was never someone who neatly fit into one category. She was a force for good in so many different ways.
“I never thought about being the book lady,” Parton said. “The painted lady? Yes. The overexaggerated, overdressed lady? Yes. But that just goes to show you that you can’t judge a book by looking at the cover.”
