Photo by Monika Lozinska/ Rotary International
Growing up in the mountains of Tennessee, USA, Dolly Parton had little time for reading. Before and after school, she and her 11 siblings had chores: fetching water from the well, cooking over the wood-burning stove, and tending the vegetable plot. Her father, a tobacco farmer, never learned to read.
Parton’s impoverished childhood and her father’s illiteracy inspired the country music legend to launch a children’s book program in 1996. She started in her native Sevier County. Now home to about 80,000 people, the county had a population of 60 during her youth — “and 36 of them were Partons,” she says.
The Dollywood Foundation’s Imagination Library provides a new book every month to children from birth to age five, starting with The Little Engine That Could. To date, the program has delivered more than 23 million books to preschoolers in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. A year ago, Parton’s organization and Rotary International teamed up to further the effort, which costs US$28 per child annually. More than 140 Rotary clubs participate.
Parton will give a keynote address on 23 June at the 2010 RI Convention in Montréal, Que., Canada.
An actress, songwriter, and singer, Parton has won seven Grammy awards and was named to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999. Her Broadway musical, 9 to 5, based on the movie, will be touring later this year. This month also marks the 25th anniversary of her Dollywood theme park, in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
Most philanthropies help only the poor. The Imagination Library took income out of the equation, offering books to all children, regardless of family finances. Why is that? I never wanted a child or family to feel they were getting books because someone decided they must be poor or underprivileged. I want kids to feel that the reason they are getting a book is because they are under five and their community loves them. And I do have a practical side: If we had to take on the burden of deciding who qualified and who didn’t, we would spend more time and money on qualifying people than we would on books.
How has Rotary supported your work? Rotary has been a wonderful partner. It has helped us in all kinds of ways — getting the word out, funding the effort, and finding others to help fund it, and also registering lots of kids. It won’t be long till we are mailing to 600,000 kids a month.
What is your impression of the Rotarians you have met? I never really pay much attention to what people are; I focus on who they are. Everyone I have met has been warm, loving, caring — and pretty darn funny!
Do you own a Kindle? No. I love everything about a book — the way it feels and the way it smells. I think there will always be books, and I think the world is plenty big enough to have both books and Kindles.
What do you envision for the future of the Imagination Library? My hope is simple: that no child will ever have to grow up without books. Our partnership with Rotary is just beginning, so I am sure as we grow closer, our dreams will grow.
What books do you have on your nightstand? I read all the time, but the one book that is always on or near my nightstand is the Bible.
Does anyone read to you? For me, reading is a solitary adventure. I get up real early every morning. I call it my ‘God time’ — it’s so quiet, and I can read, pray, write, create. It is a very special time for me.
How have your philanthropic efforts inspired your music? Everything I do somehow makes it to my music. However, I know that as I mature (I don’t get older — I just keep on growing and maturing), I want to do more with kids, entertain them, have fun with them, and maybe even inspire a few along the way. I am just a big kid myself, so I have been enjoying writing music for kids. One day down the road, I will release my first children’s collection, so stay tuned!
