Dolly Parton Gifts Books To Children In Philadelphia

When reminiscing about her childhood, Dolly Parton recalls her father never bought a book not to talk about reading it to her. She said it was not because he was a bad father to her and her 13 other siblings, he was simply not able to read and write.

The 75-year-old Grammy award winner is now a well-learned songwriter, country music superstar, actress, and philanthropist. However, her father is more proud of her achievements in the literary world, with the establishment of her Amazon-level book foundation. Her literary achievements cannot be compared to Jeff Bezos though.

Impact Of Her Imagination Library Project

With her gifting of over 154 million books, Dolly is perhaps the person to have given out the most books for free through her Dolly Parton Imagination Library which has been established over 26 years. Her library establishment is geared towards making children literate. 40,000 of the free books were given out during an event organized in Delaware. Her organization is about to give out about 60 books to children for free in Philadephia with her children’s book titled The Little Engine That Could among them.

In an interview with the Library of Congress in 2018, eight years after the death of her father, she disclosed how proud her father was with her desire to get as many children as she could to read and write. She admired her father for his smart mind even if he was not able to read and write.
Country superstar Dolly is known for her distinct vocal skills, heavy make-up, and bare it all fashion sense. She is the recipient of many musical awards and is regarded as one of the prominent philanthropists in the country.

Dolly reveals that the biggest accomplishment of her career is the Imagination Library project which started in her hometown of Tennessee and has spread to several states in the United States and over 6 countries globally today.

Partnering With Her Child Literacy Project

Organizations that intend to partner with the superstar’s child literacy project through her affiliate program have to be capable of giving children between 0-5 years within their geographical area a book every month. For some people, giving out a book before the birth of a child does not make sense. But the head of the Diamond affiliate under the Delaware state library network, Annie Norman, says otherwise as mothers are known to read books to their babies during pregnancy.

Accordig to the regional director of the Dollywood Foundation, the first book given out to children is the book titled “The Little Engine That Could”, which happens to the favorite of the star. There is a personal note from Dolly in every edition of the book given out, with those in Delaware getting a library card.

When the children get to the graduating age of 5, they are given the book titled “Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come”.

A partnership with the Penguin Random House enables the Dollywood Foundation to spend an average of $120 to give a child a book every month for the first 5 years of their lives.