Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has crossed a major milestone, having officially distributed a whopping 200 million books to children worldwide. According to the organization, the total number of books gifted as of June 2023 is 211,415,579.
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To celebrate the massive achievement, the Imagination Library is hosting a special program during International Literacy Month in September 2023. Throughout the month, seven bookmarks will be randomly hidden in books across the world. The seven children and their families who find the bookmarks will receive a special care package from Parton that includes a video chat with the singer herself, a personalized letter and signed photo from Parton, and four tickets to her Tennessee amusement park, Dollywood.
“I want to thank everyone who’s supported my Imagination Library over the years,” Parton shared in a video message. “We keep dreaming big, and I am so happy that the Imagination Library is reaching so many children —I know my daddy would be proud.”
Parton founded Imagination Library in 1995 in honor of her father, who wasn’t able to read or write. Originally started in her hometown of Sevierville, Tennessee, Imagination Library currently mails a free book to children who are registered for the program in five countries each month from when they’re born up to the age of five.
Among the books they receive in the U.S. are The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s First Summer, The Night Before the Dentist, and Ice Cream Face. The welcome book sent to children is the classic The Little Engine That Could, while the final book, known as the “graduation book,” is Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come!
“Inspiring kids to love to read became my mission,” Parton explains in a letter on the Imagination Library website. “In the beginning, my hope was simply to inspire the children in my home county but here we are today with a worldwide program that gives a book a month to well over 1 million children.”
Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images for ABA
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