Dolly Parton is giving $4.5 million to the Nashville Public Library Foundation to kickstart a new early literacy program.
The country music legend is giving the money—the largest gift ever to the library foundation—through her nonprofit Dollywood Foundation, which also runs Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, a program that mails free books to children in five countries.
The gift will be used to launch Begin Bright, an initiative that will provide “training and literacy resources for parents, childcare providers and more,” the library foundation announced in a news release.
Parton, known for her hit songs including “Jolene,” “9 to 5,” and “I Will Always Love You,” has long been an advocate for literacy. She established the Imagination Library in 1995 as a tribute to her father, who was illiterate. “He was the smartest man I have ever known but I know in my heart his inability to read probably kept him from fulfilling all of his dreams,” Parton says on the program’s website.
The Nashville library’s Begin Bright initiative “will deliver a Little Library filled with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Books and a host of NPL resources to every childcare center in the county,” the foundation said.
In a statement, Parton said, “I really believe this partnership can make a huge impact on inspiring a love of reading for children and families. And one of the best parts is that Nashville can once again light the way for the nation.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
