Dolly Parton gave the world a lifetime of music, but one of her greatest legacies arrived quietly—in mailboxes belonging to children.
Inspired by her father, who never had the opportunity to learn to read and write, Dolly founded the Imagination Library in 1995. What began with books for children in her home county in Tennessee grew into the world’s largest early-childhood book-gifting program.
More than 300 million free books have since been placed into the hands of children from birth to age 5. Today, the program mails more than 3 million books each month—all addressed to the children themselves. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
Many of those books found their way to Mississippi.
Through partnerships with local organizations, children in communities stretching from the Gulf Coast to the Mississippi Delta have grown up receiving Dolly’s books. In some homes, those brightly colored packages helped build already-growing bookshelves. In others, they may have provided a child’s very first book.
Imagine all the Mississippi bedtime stories. All the little hands turning pages. All the children who learned to recognize their own names because Dolly put them on a package in the mailbox. She understood that a book is never just a book. It can be a child’s first glimpse of another place, another possibility or a bigger dream.
Dolly will always be remembered for her unmistakable voice, brilliant songwriting, sparkling style and quick wit. But generations of Mississippi children will also know her as the lady who sent them books.
She encouraged children to “Dream More, Learn More, Care More and Be More.” Through her Imagination Library, she gave millions of them—including children right here at home—a place to begin.
Rest well, Dolly. Thank you for the songs, the stories and the books that made their way into Mississippi homes. We will always love you.
