It’s no secret Dolly Parton has enjoyed massive success throughout her musical career. Even with all those accomplishments, perhaps her crowning achievement is the establishment of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. Her initial vision was to give a book a month to the children of her home county. This desire eventually turned into a program that is now in all 50 states and has international reach.
What is Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library?
Dolly wanted to create a program that would give every preschool child in her hometown county of Sevier a new book to read each month. Her ambition behind the project was to begin developing the love of reading at an early age. The idea was to deliver top-quality, age-specific books to all the families of Sevier County regardless of their income. In 1995 her dream became a reality as Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library was officially started. Now it has grown into a global success. The support of the affiliates, sponsors, and the Imagination Library itself, has enabled the program to have a huge impact on the early lives of millions of children worldwide.
The program has been so successful that Land Grant Films recently completed a documentary, going behind the scenes to take an in-depth look at Imagination Library. The film “The Library That Dolly Built” will be released in Fall 2020 and scheduled for screenings in over 300 theaters.
How it Works
It may seem relatively simple on the surface, but there are a lot of moving parts to make sure all the children signed up for the program receive their books every month. The Imagination Library works with 501(c)3 non-profit affiliates across all 50 states. Each member is responsible for running the program in their areas. They are tasked with promoting the program and raising funds for the purchase of books at wholesale, as well as the mailing costs. The Imagination Library covers all administrative overhead, book selection, and curriculum for the various age groups.
The program is available to children from birth to five years of age, and each month the child receives a new book delivered to his or her home. The program partners collect and submit participant data to the Imagination Library, who then takes over the coordination of the monthly book fulfillment.
To find a local affiliate in your area, visit the Imagination Library’s website to check the availability.
Milestones of the Program
Here is a quick overview of some of the most noteworthy achievements of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library:
- 1995 – The Imagination Library is born. The first book order was a little more than 1,700
- 2000 – National replication allows the program to grow as more communities adopt the program and start affiliates
- 2004 – 100% state-wide coverage is achieved in Dolly’s home state of Tennessee
- The Imagination Library Goes International
- 2006 Canada
- 2007 United Kingdom
- 2014 Australia
- 2019 Republic of Ireland
The Imagination Library is active in all 50 states and spans globally across five countries, shipping over a million books per month.
Goodnight With Dolly
Goodnight With Dolly is a program launched through the Imagination Library that ran for ten weeks. The goal of the program was to provide some entertainment for children while they were at home. You can view all episodes on the Imagination Library website.
