How Dolly Parton fostered child literacy as a tribute to her dad

While Dolly Parton was known as the Queen of Country, her work improving child literacy rates will be another of her lasting legacies.

Parton, who died this week aged 80, grew up in extreme poverty in the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee, the fourth of 12 children to her parents Robert Lee and Avie Lee Parton.

Parton adored her dad, describing him as "the smartest man I've ever known" with a good head for numbers.

However, he never learned to read or write after leaving school at a young age to work to help support his family.

"I knew in my heart his inability to read probably kept him from seeing all his dreams come true," Parton said on social media.

"Inspiring kids to love to read became my mission."

Her tribute to her dad became the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, which she established in1995, initially to help underprivileged kids in her rural home county.

"When I was growing up in the hills of East Tennessee, I knew my dreams would come true. I know there are children in your community with their own dreams. They dream of becoming a doctor or an inventor or a minister. Who knows, maybe there is a little girl whose dream is to be a writer and singer," Parton wrote on the organisation's website.

"The seeds of these dreams are often found in books and the seeds you help plant in your community can grow across the world."

It has now been operating for 31 years, expanding across the US, the UK, Ireland, Canada and Australia, where it was established in 2013.

How does it work?

Every month the Imagination Library sends an age-appropriate book to all registered children at no cost to their family.

Kids can register from birth, and receive a monthly book until the age of five.

The program has so far gifted 332 million books to children around the world.

More than 2 million of those books have gone to kids in Australia.

Australia's selection committee, which is run by United Way Australia and is comprised of early education and literacy experts, picks titles specific to the region, and includes Indigenous writers and publishing organisations.

Previous book selections have included the board book Australian Babies, With Sky Country by Annette Sax, Backyard Footy by Carl Merrison and Pamela Allen's Who Sank the Boat?

The program has been embraced by public libraries around the country.

Its effect on literacy

The Imagination Library's impact has been far-reaching and affirmed in an international study led by United Way Australia's head of research, statistician Claire Galea, in 2025.

The study, which is the largest dataset in the world on shared book reading, collected data from 86,000 families with children in the program.

It found in all countries, the program significantly helped prevent early literacy gaps that often persisted in primary school.

Children enrolled in Imagination Library were also nine times more likely to be read to four or more days per week compared to those not in the program.

In Australia, the number one benefit reported by caregivers was seeing their children develop a strong love of books and reading.

Dr Galea's thesis specifically looked at the impact of the program in Tamworth, finding children in this local government area were read to more often, for longer, and had more books in the home than the average Australian child.

The Imagination Library team posted a tribute to Parton on social media, saying they were "heartbroken at the loss of our founder".

"The work ahead has never felt more meaningful, and we will carry it forward as she lifts us all up. Dolly, we will always love you."