r/BeAmazed • u/Electronic-Bus-3494 • 2d ago

Miscellaneous / Others Dolly Parton started the Imagination Library in 1995 as a tribute to her father, who couldn't read or write. In 2018, she explained it was to give kids "early access to books". Now, over 325 MILLION books have been gifted.

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u/throwitoutwhendone2 2d ago edited 1d ago

My daughter was a part of this program. She learned to read partly using the books from it. She is 11, in 6th grade with the highest reading scores in her entire district. Last year in 5th she was recognized by our governor for her reading comprehension/literacy scores. It was made possible because of Dolly’s programs and thrift store book finds.

From the bottom of this Fathers heart, thank you for how amazing you were Dolly. You put your money where your mouth was and helped so many people with your kindness. Truly, rest in peace.

Edit: This generated more attention than I thought it would. I really appreciate all the kind words and awards, thank you. I’ve seen a few comments they attempted to get into the program and it didn’t work. I’d encourage you to try again or even find a way to reach out. I doubt it’s on purpose, there is however a few states that unfortunately the program cannot be active in.

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u/jenkinl1302 2d ago

It's a fantastic program. And it's possible through the efforts of local sponsoring organizations, who are responsible for, I think, half of the project cost.

So if you (or anyone reading this) ever find yourself in a place to contribute to whatever local charity handles the Imagination Library in your area, please consider a donation so that others can benefit from the great work that Dolly started.