Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Program Honored by Library of Congress: ‘Titan of Children’s Literacy’
The Library of Congress paid tribute to Dolly Parton on 25 August 2026, hours after the country music icon died aged 80, praising her as a "titan of children's literacy" for her work founding the Imagination Library. The programme, which distributes free books to young children regardless of family income, has earned multiple Library Literacy Awards and holds particular significance for the institution, which received the scheme's 100 millionth book from Parton herself in 2018.
Parton launched the Imagination Library in 1995 in her home county of Sevier, Tennessee, providing free books to children up to age five before it expanded across the United States and later to Canada, the UK, Ireland and Australia, mailing around two million books globally each month by 2022. She started the charity in memory of her father, who never learned to read or write. Her death, announced by her nephew Bryan Seaver, was later attributed to a brief battle with cancer, prompting tributes from musicians including Paul McCartney, Elton John and Taylor Swift, as well as an order from President Trump to fly US flags at half-staff.
- Library of Congress honoured Dolly Parton's literacy work after her death, aged 80
- Her Imagination Library has mailed millions of free children's books since 1995
- Parton died from cancer; tributes poured in from musicians and Trump
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Dolly Parton was an American country singer and songwriter who also supported projects in education and literacy. In 1995, she founded the Imagination Library in Sevier County, Tennessee, where she grew up, in memory of her father, who could not read or write.
The programme sends a free book each month to children from birth until they turn five, without regard to family income. It began locally and later expanded to other parts of the United States and several countries, including the UK, Ireland, Canada and Australia.
The scheme’s scale has made it a prominent effort to encourage early reading and help families build children’s libraries at home. Its ties to the Library of Congress include receiving the programme’s 100 millionth book in 2018.