How Dolly Parton’s Dad Inspired Her Beloved Imagination Library: ‘He Was the Greatest Daddy’
He couldn’t read or write, but he inspired her to help children discover the joy of books
Key Takeaways
- Dolly Parton created the Imagination Library as a tribute to her father.
- Robert Lee Parton’s work ethic and intelligence deeply influenced Dolly throughout her life.
- The Imagination Library has distributed more than 330 million free books to children worldwide.
Dolly Parton was many things: a country music singer, a businesswoman, a fashion icon and a philanthropist. And one of her most beloved philanthropies was her Imagination Library, which has given millions of books to children around the world. But did you know Dolly’s dad was the reason for that philanthropy? Read on for the touching story of how he impacted Dolly’s love of reading.
A look at Dolly’s relationship with her parents
Dolly was born on January 19, 1946, in Locust Ridge, Tennessee. She was the fourth of 12 children, all of whom lived in a two-room home. Her mother, Avie Lee Owens Parton, was a homemaker who created Dolly’s patchwork coat, which served as the inspiration for her song “Coat of Many Colors.” Dolly’s father, Robert Lee Parton, worked as a sharecropper and a construction laborer. They were happily married, and according to Dolly, the Parton family was a very musical one.
“I grew up in a very musical family, all my mother’s people were very musical, so I was always around people playing instruments and singing, and my mom singing the old songs,” Parton told People magazine in 2020. “So that was just part of my being and I just knew I loved it. I just continued doing that, it was just a natural thing.”
How Dolly’s father impacted her love of reading
Unlike Dolly, her father never learned to read or write. Because of that, Dolly created the Imagination Library in 1995. The program mails free books to children from birth to age 5 all across the world.
“My dad was not able to read and write—he was a country boy with a bunch of kids, and he had to work instead of going to school when he was a little boy, and so he never had the chance to get an education,” she told People in 2017. “It seemed to really bother him a lot and I thought, ‘Well, what can I do for my precious dad?’ ‘Cause he was the greatest daddy in the world and one of the smartest people I’d ever known.”
“So I said, ‘Dad, why don’t we put together a little program where we give children books from the time they’re born, once a month, until they start school?’” Dolly continued. “That way, they can learn to read, love books. If you can read, you can kinda self-educate.”
So began Dolly’s Imagination Library, which has given away more than 330 million books since its founding in 1995. The program also recently received a $2 million donation from Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce before their wedding in July of this year.
“Taylor and Travis, it’s Dolly! And I was just told that you two are making a donation of $2 million to my Imagination Library,” Dolly said in her thank you video to the newlyweds. “Thank you, thank you, thank you—I’m blown away and overjoyed with that gratitude. Now, it’s evident that you two have made giving back a key part of your lives…so hey, when you have your first born, can I have it? Because that is going to be one special baby!”
Dolly’s dad died in 2000 at age 79. He never learned to read or write and was survived by his children and his wife, who died three years later.
“Before he passed away, my Daddy told me the Imagination Library was probably the most important thing I had ever done. I can’t tell you how much that meant to me because I created the Imagination Library as a tribute to my Daddy,” Dolly wrote in a letter to fans. “Of course, I have not done this alone. The real heroes of our story are the thousands of local organizations who have embraced my dream and made it their own. They raise millions of dollars each year and wake up every day with a passion to make sure their kids have every opportunity to succeed.”
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