Dolly Parton built one of the most recognizable careers in American entertainment with powerhouse songwriting, rhinestones and a personality that never believed in playing small. In Arizona, though, part of her legacy has been showing up in a much quieter way: one children’s book at a time.
Parton died at age 80 after a short battle with cancer, according to The Associated Press. Beyond the music, movies and unmistakable persona, her death has renewed attention on the philanthropic work she spent decades building, including a childhood literacy program that has put hundreds of millions of books into the hands of children around the world.
That legacy has a meaningful Arizona chapter.
Read On Arizona coordinated a statewide expansion of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library alongside The Dollywood Foundation, the Arizona Department of Economic Security, the Arizona Department of Education and United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona. According to Read On Arizona’s 2024 update on the expansion, the effort focused primarily on rural and high-need communities where the program had not previously been available.
The concept is beautifully simple. Children registered for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library receive a free, high-quality, age-appropriate book in the mail every month from birth until age 5. The book is addressed directly to the child, turning a literacy program into something that feels a little like a monthly present.
Arizona families responded in a big way.
When Read On Arizona first shared details of the statewide effort in its 2023 Imagination Library expansion announcement, more than 8,000 additional young children had enrolled.
By July 2024, Read On Arizona reported that more than 13,000 additional Arizona children were registered, surpassing the expansion goal and more than doubling the number of children receiving free books through the program. Before that expansion, the Imagination Library had been serving approximately 11,000 young children in select Arizona communities.
The effort stretched beyond individual mailboxes, too. As part of the expansion, 200 early-learning sites across Arizona received specially selected collections of 28 high-quality children’s books to support early literacy in their programs.
The Arizona expansion was supported through federal COVID-19 relief funding dedicated by the Arizona Department of Economic Security Division of Child Care to accelerate access to early childhood literacy resources. Read On Arizona’s original announcement also cited support from the Governor’s Office as part of the broader investment.
The reasoning behind all those books starts long before kindergarten. In its original Arizona expansion announcement, Read On Arizona notes that the skills children need to become strong readers begin developing from birth and that having books available at home helps support language and early literacy.
Parton created the Imagination Library in 1995 to serve children in Sevier County, Tennessee, where she grew up. According to the Imagination Library, her father’s inability to read and write helped inspire the program.
What began locally became global.
Today, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library sends more than 3 million books each month to children around the world. The program operates in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and the Republic of Ireland.
Following Parton’s death, The Associated Press reported that the Imagination Library had distributed more than 330 million books globally, making childhood literacy one of the defining pieces of her philanthropic legacy.
The books themselves are thoughtfully chosen, too. According to the Imagination Library’s Books & Selection information, titles are selected by childhood literacy experts. Each age group also receives two bilingual English-Spanish books annually, while families in select states can choose a fully bilingual program in which every book arrives in both languages.
Arizona families interested in participating can use the Imagination Library’s online availability checker to see whether the program operates in their community and register an eligible child.
There is something fitting about the simplicity of Parton’s literacy legacy. She spent a lifetime commanding stages, writing songs that became cultural landmarks and creating an image almost impossible to imitate.
Yet one of her biggest ideas needed no spotlight at all. Just a book, a mailbox and a child excited to see their own name on the package. In Arizona, those pages are still turning.
Insider Takeaways
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Read On Arizona coordinated a statewide expansion of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library with state and nonprofit partners, focusing primarily on rural and high-need Arizona communities.
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More than 13,000 additional Arizona children were registered by July 2024, surpassing the expansion goal. Registered children receive one free, age-appropriate book by mail every month from birth until age 5.
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The Arizona initiative also supplied 200 early-learning sites with collections of 28 high-quality children’s books.
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Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library now sends more than 3 million books to children around the world each month.
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Arizona families can check local availability and register through the Imagination Library’s online eligibility tool.
To learn more, visit Read On Arizona.
