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Musical legend Dolly Parton has ensured that refugee children in London will benefit from free books as part of her ‘Imagination Library’. The new project, which will be part of her global organisation, is in association with the ‘Give a Book’ charity and Penguin Random House publishers, and will bring a book every month to 200 refugee children until they turn five years old.
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library launched in 1995 and is the flagship programme of the Dollywood Foundation. Inspired by her father’s inability to read and write, Dolly started her Imagination Library for the children within her home county.
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a book gifting programme devoted to inspiring a love of reading in the hearts of children everywhere. Each month, enrolled children from birth to age five, receive a high quality, age-appropriate book in the post, free of charge.
“When I was growing up in the hills of East Tennessee, I knew my dreams would come true. I know there are children in your community with their own dreams. They dream of becoming a doctor or an inventor or a minister. Who knows, maybe there is a little girl whose dream is to be a writer and singer. The seeds of these dreams are often found in books and the seeds you help plant in your community can grow across the world.”
In December of 2007, Dolly Parton travelled to London for a special announcement about her Imagination Library. To celebrate the programme’s launch in the United Kingdom, a group of school children gathered on the steps of the Savoy Hotel to sing Dolly’s song “I Believe in You.”
Since then, the Imagination Library has grown, now working with over 200 affiliate partners and deliver more than 40,000 books every month to children living in communities across the UK. In 2021, more than 618,000 books were given to children across the UK and Ireland through the charity’s partnership with Penguin Random House. Today, her program spans five countries and gifts over 1 million free books each month to children around the world.
The books are carefully selected, and full of variety. They include traditional stories and rhymes, books by beloved authors and illustrators, non-fiction content, and newly published titles.
As reported by The Guardian, Penguin Random House’s Managing Director of children’s books Francesca Dow explained:
“Books are vital to building understanding and creating a sense of belonging, that can be crucial for those moving to a new place. What is especially exciting about these donations is that the children will be receiving new books every month. They will therefore be able to build up their own personal collection of books to keep and to have, as they grow.”
The project is active across the United States, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, Canada, and Australia. With such a large undertaking, there has been a film made about the musician’s philanthropic work, titled The Library That Dolly Built.
You can watch a new documentary about Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Google Play, and Cable on Demand, and see how Dolly and her team made it happen.
The Library That Dolly Built, directed and produced by journalism professor and director of Land Grant Films Nick Geidner, and narrated by Danica McKellar, goes behind the scenes of Dolly Parton’s literacy-focused non-profit, Imagination Library, to show how one of the most famous and beloved performers in the world has developed an efficient and effective program for spreading the love of reading. The film celebrates all the people who helped make Dolly’s dream come true.
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Website
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Michelle is a musician and composer from the UK. She has performed across the UK and Europe and is passionate about arts education and opportunities for women and girls.
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