Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has given away 130 million books
Dolly Parton’s organization originally set up to give free books to children where she grew up in Sevier County, Tennessee, but now gifts books around the world. This month the Imagination Library gave away its 130 millionth book, the organization said.
According to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, the organization gave away at least 1,492,779 children’s books this month.
Parton started the organization through her Dollywood Foundation in 1995 in Sevier County, home to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.
“If I’m remembered 100 years from now, I hope it will be not for looks but for books,” Parton once said, according to the organization.
“Dolly’s home state of Tennessee pledged to pursue statewide coverage in 2004 and global expansion was on the horizon,” according to the Imagination Library.
“After the United States, the program launched in Canada in 2006 followed by the United Kingdom in 2007, Australia in 2013 and the Republic of Ireland in 2019,” the organization said.
The Imagination Library expanded to Ireland this year.
The organization hit the 100 million books milestone last month, donating the 100 millionth to the Library of Congress.
This story was originally published December 24, 2019 at 12:20 PM with the headline "Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has given away 130 million books."
