Dolly Parton, our queen of country, rhinestones, and big hair, is at it again, doing something so wholesome it’s almost offensive. With her Imagination Library program, Dolly has been sprinkling literacy like glitter for over three decades. Yep, this 78-year-old powerhouse has made it possible for kids under the age of 5 to receive books at home every month – because if there’s one thing Dolly knows, it’s how to deliver hits, and now those hits come in hardcover. And what’s better than free books? Exactly, nothing. Except maybe free books sent to your house.
She partied it up this past Tuesday (August 27), making stops in Missouri and Kentucky to chat about her program and reminisce about her dad, Robert Lee, who passed away in 2000. Imagine your kid calling you “the Book Lady,” and your other title is “International Music Legend.” Even Dolly’s dad was prouder of her book-giving than her Billboard chart-topping. That’s some next-level parenting.
“At home, a lot of folks didn’t get to school much ‘cause they were busy doing farm stuff,” Dolly shared at Kansas City’s Folly Theater. “And by ‘farm stuff,’ I mean everything from feeding chickens to chasing runaway goats – it was a full-time circus out there.”
She launched her book giveaway in Tennessee in 1995, and it’s now gone from one humble county to mailing over 3 million books monthly. That’s right – 240 million books in total have landed on kids’ doorsteps across the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ireland, and even Australia. Dolly’s literally out here making the world a smarter place, one bedtime story at a time.
Missouri’s so on board with this that they’re footing the bill for the whole shebang, which costs a cool $11 million in just one fiscal year. (That’s a lot of bedtime stories.) Other states share the costs, but they’re all lining up for Dolly’s literacy magic. Over in Kentucky, first lady Britainy Beshear announced that nearly 120,000 kiddos – almost half of the state’s preschool population – are already signed up and getting their monthly books. Imagine the future Kentucky book clubs. Watch out, Oprah!
“The kids started calling me the ‘Book Lady,’” Dolly said, with all the grace and charm of a woman who probably has more glitter than you own clothes. “And Daddy was more proud of that than my stardom. I mean, a girl writes a hit song, but she sends a book, and suddenly Dad’s strutting around like he raised Hemingway.”
In Lexington, Kentucky, Dolly said what we’ve all been thinking: “Teaching kids to read is kind of a big deal. Plus, kids loving books early on is the best way to get them hooked – legally, of course.”
Oh, and this whole book thing? Yeah, that’s Dolly’s way of honoring her dad. “The Bible says to honor your father and mother, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t just mean ‘listen to them when they tell you to clean your room.’ It’s more like, ‘make them look like the most awesome humans ever by mailing books to 3 million kids each month.’” Classic Dolly, always raising the bar on how to be a decent human.
Now, excuse me while I go sign up for a Dolly Parton fan club and hope they send me a monthly book too.