Dolly Parton's father grew up in a poor family and never had the chance to learn to read.
Inspired by his upbringing, The 78-year-old country music legend For the past three decades, they have made it their mission to improve literacy through their Imagination Library book gift program. It has expanded statewide to places like Missouri and Kentucky, two of 21 states where all children under the age of 5 can sign up to have books sent to their homes monthly.
To mark the occasion, he stopped in both states on Tuesday to promote the show and tell the story of his father, Robert Lee Parton, who died in 2000.
“In the mountains, a lot of people never had a chance to go to school because they had to work in the fields,” he said at the Foley Theater in Kansas City, Missouri. “They had to do whatever they could to keep the rest of the family going.”
The fourth of 12 children in a poor Appalachian family, Parton said her father was “one of the most intelligent people I've ever known”, but was ashamed that he could not read.
And so she decided to help other children, starting the program in one county in her home state of Tennessee in 1995. It quickly grew from there, and today more than 3 million books are sent out each month. Since the program began, books have been sent to more than 240 million children in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia.
Missouri covers the entire cost of the program, which totaled $11 million last fiscal year. Most other states contribute funds through a cost-sharing model.
“The kids started calling me 'the book lady,'” Parton said. “And Daddy was more proud of the fact that I was a star. But Daddy started to feel like he had really done something great.”
In Kentucky, the Imagination Library reaches children in all 120 counties, Gov. Andy Beshear said at an event with Parton on Tuesday. First Lady Brittany Beshear said more than 120,000 Kentucky children — about half of all preschoolers in the state — are currently enrolled to receive books through the program.
The First Lady said it encourages families to read together, and it allows children to build their own personal libraries before starting kindergarten, without the expense burdening their families.
“It's really a great way to teach kids to love books and to love reading when they're very young,” Parton said during the event in Lexington, Kentucky.
Parton, who won a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award a decade ago, said she would eventually like to see the program in every state. While it exists in all states, 21 states have legislation that ensures all children under the age of 5 can enroll. She said she is proud her father lived long enough to see the program begin.
“It was my way of honoring my father, because the Bible says honor your father and mother,” he said. “And I don't think that means just 'obey.' I think it means bringing honor to their name and to them.”
Parton is an author herself, whose books include the 1996 children's book “Coat of Many Colors,” which is part of the book distribution program.
When she prepared to sing her famous song of the same name, she explained that it was about a coat her mother made from a patchwork of mismatched fabric, because the family was too poor to afford a large piece of single fabric. Parton was proud of it because her mother described it as being like the multicolored coat spoken of in the Bible – a wonderful gift from Jacob to his son Joseph.
However, classmates would make fun of her. For years, she said the experience was a “deep, deep hurt.”
He said that after writing and singing the song, “I was freed from the pain.” He continued to receive letters for years from people telling him the same thing had happened to them.
“The fact that that little song means so much not only to me, but to so many other people for so many different reasons is what makes it my favorite song,” he explained.
When asked about her lasting legacy in Kentucky, Parton said she would like to be remembered as a “good old girl” who worked hard and tried to make people happy and make the world a better place.
“Of course I want to be known as a songwriter and singer, but I can honestly say that Imagination Library means as much, if not more, to me than anything else I've ever done,” she said.
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Hollingsworth reported from Mission, Kansas. Schreiner reported from Frankfort, Kentucky.