The following is excerpted from an online article posted by Parents
With the death of country music legend Dolly Parton, many parents might be wondering what will happen to one of her most popular philanthropic projects: Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. But according to several news outlets, the book gifting program will continue her legacy,
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library mails children a free book each month from birth until they are 5 years old. The books are chosen by experts in publishing and education and are based on the child’s age. Parton’s mission was to foster a love of reading in children by making the experience of reading fun and meaningful.
There are no eligibility requirements for Dolly Parton’s book club except living in a community that’s served by the program. The Imagination Library is now available in over 2,000 communities in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, and Australia.
The free books from Dolly Parton’s book club are a mixture of classic and contemporary fiction and non–fiction for children. Children get brand-new books that are appropriate for their age on subjects including nursery rhymes, letters, safety, diversity, and school preparation.
To see if Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is available in your area, visit the availability page, choose your country, and enter your zip code. If the program is available for you, go through the steps of registering your child (submitting your mailing address and information about your child).
There are no income limits or other qualifications to participate in Dolly Parton’s book club program. As long as your area has an affiliate, you can enroll your child in the program any time between birth and their sixth birthday.
Country music star Dolly Parton credited her father with inspiring her to start the Imagination Library. Dolly’s dad couldn’t read or write because he never had the opportunity to attend school as a child. Nevertheless, he worked hard to provide for his wife and their 12 children in the mountains of East Tennessee.
Seeing her father struggle due to not being able to read, Dolly decided to create a fun and accessible way for children to learn this skill so that, even if they couldn’t afford an education, they could learn about anything that interested them.