LEXINGTON, Ky. — Country music legend Dolly Parton was in Kentucky on Tuesday celebrating the statewide expansion of her Imagination Library, a free book program for children inspired by her upbringing in Appalachia.
The nonprofit has become the preeminent early childhood book gifting program in the world. It provides free books every month to children up to five years old to help them "develop a love for reading and get ready for kindergarten."
Gov. Andy Beshear said Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Kentucky gives free books to more than 120,000 children under five years old every month.
Louisville’s Imagination Library program expanded to include every neighborhood in Jefferson County last July.
On Tuesday, Parton was in Lexington, Kentucky -- alongside Gov. Andy Beshear and First Lady Britainy Beshear -- to celebrate the expansion. The governor also named her one of the state's latest Kentucky Colonels and dedicated the month of August to the Imagination Library's work.
“Team Kentucky is proud to be a part of bringing books to children across the commonwealth,” he said. “The program has already had a tremendous impact on the state, and we are excited to help extend its reach even further.”
Beshear said the statewide program is supported by a 50% state to local program funding match, which was included in the state budget that was approved by the General Assembly and signed into law in 2021.
“As parents, Britainy and I have seen first-hand how important early childhood education is as kids get ready for kindergarten and the rest of their lives,” said Gov. Beshear. “Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is making a huge difference for kids in Kentucky and beyond, so they can spend time reading and learning with their families. We were so honored to have Dolly Parton herself with us here today to celebrate her legacy and the life-changing impact that books can have on a child’s future.”
During an interview onstage, Parton revealed she wanted the Imagination Library to be her lasting legacy.
"Of course I want to be known as a song writer and a singer, but I honestly, can honestly say, that the Imagination Library has meant, as much if not more to me, than nearly anything that I've ever done," she said.
At an event in Missouri, which also celebrated its statewide expansion of the Imagination Library on Tuesday, Parton said the program was created in honor of her father, Robert Lee Parton, who died in 2000.
Parton, the fourth of 12 children from a poor Appalachian family, said her father was “one of the smartest people I’ve ever known,” but he was embarrassed that he couldn't read. And so she decided to help other kids, initially rolling out the program in a single county in her home state of Tennessee in 1995.
It spread quickly from there, and today over 3 million books are sent out each month — 240 million to kids worldwide since it started. Parton said she is proud that her dad lived long enough to see the program get off the ground.
“That was kind of my way to honor my dad, because the Bible says to honor your father and mother,” she said. “And I don’t think that just means, ‘just obey.’ I think it means to bring honor to their name and to them.”
Parton is an author herself whose titles include the 1996 children's book “Coat of Many Colors,” which is part of the book giveaway program.
As she prepared to sing her famous song by the same name, she told the Beshears that it is about a coat her mother made her from a patchwork of mismatched fabric, since the family was too poor to afford a large piece of a single fabric.
Parton was proud of it because her mother likened it the multicolored coat that is told about in the Bible — a fantastic gift from Jacob to his son Joseph.
Classmates, however, laughed at her. For years, she said the experience was a “deep, deep hurt.”
She said that with writing and performing the song, “the hurt just left me.” She received letters over the years from people saying it did the same thing for them.
“The fact,” she explained, “that that little song has just meant so much not only to me, but to so many other people for so many different reasons, makes it my favorite song.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.
Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.