Dolly Parton's Team Urges Donations to Imagination Library After Her Death, Which Sent 332.4 Million Books
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Aug 26
Dolly Parton's Team Urges Donations to Imagination Library After Her Death, Which Sent 332.4 Million Books
3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Aug 26
Summary
Parton’s team asked fans to donate to the Imagination Library instead of sending flowers after announcing her death Tuesday, aiming to extend the charity most closely tied to her legacy.
Launched in 1995 and inspired by her father’s illiteracy, the program mails free monthly books to children under 5 and has distributed more than 332.4 million copies across the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland and Australia.
Her broader philanthropy also included a $1 million gift that helped fund early Moderna Covid vaccine research, plus repeated donations to Tennessee hospitals and children’s health programs.
In Tennessee, Parton backed disaster relief, scholarships and education initiatives, including a 1990s graduation incentive that cut one local dropout rate from 35% to 6%.