The world has lost an icon, but Dolly Parton’s legacy will live on in millions of homes, bookshelves, bedtime stories, and little readers for generations to come.
Dolly was known around the world for her unmistakable voice, remarkable songwriting, joyful spirit, and generosity. But one of the legacies closest to our hearts at FIRST 5 Santa Clara County is one she built especially for children: Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
Dolly launched the Imagination Library in 1995 in her home county in East Tennessee as a tribute to her father, who never had the opportunity to learn to read or write. Her idea was beautifully simple: every child should have books of their very own, regardless of their family’s income.
What began as a small local program grew into a worldwide movement, gifting hundreds of millions of books to young children and helping families experience the magic of reading together.
Today, that magic reaches families right here in Santa Clara County. Through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, children from birth through age 5 can receive a free, age-appropriate book delivered directly to their home every month. That means a child enrolled from birth can build a home library of as many as 60 books before they even start kindergarten at no cost to their family.
And those books represent so much more than pages on a shelf.
They are bedtime stories curled up with a parent. New words learned together. Questions, giggles and “read it again!” They are opportunities to strengthen the bonds between children and their caregivers while building the early literacy skills that help prepare children for school and life.
That was the extraordinary thing about Dolly: she understood that a book can open a whole world for a child.
Her music made generations of people sing. Her kindness made people feel seen. And through the Imagination Library, her generosity will continue arriving in mailboxes: one child, one family and one book at a time.
Thank you, Dolly, for helping millions of little readers dream big. Your story will continue every time a family opens a book together.
Families in Santa Clara County can enroll eligible children ages birth to 5 in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and receive one free book in the mail every month. Sign up on the Santa Clara County Library’s website here.
Because every child deserves a bookshelf full of stories, and a world full of possibilities.
The world has lost an icon, but Dolly Parton’s legacy will live
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