08/25/2026
Rest in Peace Dolly Parton. Parton, while best known as an award-winning singer-songwriter, founded in 1995 the Imagination Library which is a book gifting program that mails free, high-quality books to children from birth to age five. The program has gifted over 200 million free books in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and The Republic of Ireland. The Imagination Library mails more than 2 million high-quality, age-appropriate books each month. Research has continually shown that reading to children and exposure to books and reading at a young age has a positive impact on literacy development that continues throughout young adulthood and into later life.
Parton has recognized in 2023 by the American Library Association for her work in this area with honorary lifetime membership, which is the highest honor given by ALA:
“ALA is proud to bestow this well-deserving honor upon Dolly Parton in recognition of her accomplishments in the world of libraries, learning and literacy,” said ALA President Lessa Kanani’opua Pelayo-Lozada. “Her Imagination Library initiative, which was inspired by her father’s inability to read or write, was launched to foster an early love of reading and learning in her hometown of Sevier Co., TN. Today this high-quality, book-gifting program reaches millions of children in five countries and is a shining example of her commitment to early childhood literacy and ensuring access to books for all children, which speaks to the core values of our organization.”
