DOLLY PARTON WILL be remembered by millions around the world as a legendary singer-songwriter and an icon of country music.

But the musician, who died on Tuesday at the age of 80, was especially proud of being known as ‘the Book Lady’ to the millions of children she gave free books to through her Imagination Library. 

Following her death, her family asked that donations be made to the children’s literacy programme she founded more than 30 years ago.

Parton established the Imagination Library in her native Sevier County, Tennessee, in 1995. The project was inspired by her father Robert Lee Parton, who she said was the smartest man she had ever known, but he was unable to read and write. 

She once said that before he died, her father told her the library was “probably the most important thing I’d ever done”.

“He was the smartest man I’ve ever known, but I knew in my heart his inability to read probably kept him from seeing all his dreams come true. Inspiring kids to love to read became my mission,” she said.

Children enrolled in the Imagination Library receive one book per month from birth until the age of five free of charge. Each book is chosen to meet the growing needs of the child at the pivotal stages of development.

It is funded by Parton and her Dollywood Foundation, which covers the overhead costs and negotiates pricing for the books, while local partners fundraise to cover the cost of mailing and wholesale book prices for children in their area. 

The programme quickly expanded beyond Parton’s home county to thousands of communities across the US before being established in Canada, the UK and Australia.

Impact in Ireland

Ireland became the fifth country to introduce the programme in February 2019, when it launched in South Dublin County Council Library in Tallaght. 

Launching the project, Parton called on parents in Dublin 24 to take advantage of the opportunity and get their children reading.

“You can never get enough books into the hands of young children. I know there are children in Ireland with their own dreams – the dream of becoming a doctor, an inventor, or a teacher. Who knows, maybe a writer, or singer,” she said.

“The seeds of these dreams can often be found in books and the seeds planted in a community can grow across the world.”

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, CEO of the Childhood Development Initiative in Tallaght Marian Quinn said some 420,000 books and counting have been delivered to children in Dublin 24 since the launch. 

“The first and the last books actually have letters from Dolly inserted in the books, and [with] the final book, children get a congratulatory letter from Dolly saying well done on graduating from the Imagination Library, which is lovely,” Quinn said.

“The final book they get is an Irish book, the Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde, so that’s a really nice touch for us.”

She said An Post cover all postage and packaging as part of the programme, with the books being posted to children with their names on them each month.

“We have parents telling us how children have learnt to read the calendar so that they know when their next book is going to arrive. We know children have learnt the name of their postman or postwoman because they’re so excited about when their book will come.”

Quinn said the Imagination Library was something that Parton “was very passionate about because of her own childhood” and that she hoped that local organisations would help to sustain the programme in Dublin. 

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According to the website, the Imagination Library gifts more than three million books to children every month and has gifted over 332 million books to children around the world. 

Parton went on to write a number of children’s books herself, as well as several memoirs, cookbooks and a novel. 

In an interview with USA Today in 2019, when asked if she would rather be known as the “Queen of Country Music or the Book Lady”, she said the latter.

“Daddy got to live long enough to hear kids call me the Book Lady and he was as proud of that as me being a star, and that meant so much to him,” she said. 

“I love the music and I’ll always naturally be known for that because that’s how I have the opportunity to do all these other things… but I have loved doing this for the kids.”

Our team, our local program partners, and every operational partner who helps make this program possible each month are heartbroken at the loss of our founder, Dolly Parton. (cont.) pic.twitter.com/xXys7ejAKQ

— Imagination Library (@dollyslibrary) August 25, 2026

In a statement on Tuesday, the Imaginary Library said it will continue its work following Parton’s death. 

“The world grieves with us today. And yet we find ourselves just as certain about what comes next,” it said. 

“For decades, Dolly & the team at The Dollywood Foundation — home of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library — worked to build something that would last for generations. So it will. 

“The work ahead has never felt more meaningful, and we will carry it forward as she lifts us all up. Dolly, we will always love you.”