‘It’s better to give than to receive’
Through her Imagination Library, Dolly Parton wants to encourage literacy by giving children books
LEESBURG — Dolly Parton knows how critical reading is for young children. And she knows that for some families, books are a luxury.
“Well, if you're from the rural area ... you understand our people,” Parton said in an interview with The Dispatch. “We know how hard it is for a lot of people to get the books or to get even the education you need.”
Through her program, Imagination Library, Parton is working to increase childhood literacy by mailing kids age 5 and younger free books each month. All children that age are eligible, but the program especially benefits kids in rural areas.
Parton's father, Robert “Lee,” grew up in the hills of east Tennessee and never had the opportunity to
go to school. He was the inspiration behind Imagination Library, Parton said. He couldn't read or write, and when Parton started the program she was determined that all children should have access to books at an early age.
“I grew up in a very big, poor family, as you know, there's 12 of us — eight kids younger than me,” she explained. “And I'm very involved in the lives of children, their personalities, their needs and their dreams.”
Books are critical to 2-year-old Novalee Allgood's development. They also are hard to find in Leesburg, a Highland County town about 60 miles southwest of Columbus.
“Around here there's no bookstore,” said Haley Allgood, Novalee's mother “You're driving 50 miles to the closest one, which might be in Cincinnati or Dayton. There is a small selection of books at our Walmart, another 15 miles away, but it's not much.”
Curled up on her mother's lap, Novalee let out a delighted shriek as her mom pointed to the cover of “The Little Engine That Could.”
“Should we read?” her mother asked. The toddler nodded her head vigorously. Before she enrolled in Imagination Library, Novalee was struggling with a speech delay and could barely communicate her needs.
Now, she has fallen in love with books.
“She used to not be able to sit through a book,” Haley said. “Now she'll fill in the blanks, sign and gesture along with words.”
Run by the Parton's Dollywood Foundation, the country music superstar told The Dispatch that she remains inspired by children who have enrolled in the Imagination Library over the last 24 years.
“I've always grown up with that belief that it's better to give than to receive,” Parton said. “And I also love the children.”
Parton, 74, and her foundation have gifted more than 150 million books and have 1.7 million participants worldwide, she said, and Ohio now has nearly 250,000 kids enrolled across all 88 counties.
Parton's program, in combination with early intervention services through Highland County's board of developmental disabilities, was fundamental in helping Novalee grow to love story time.
On a Friday morning in mid-november, decked out in a brand-new jumper and clutching a handful of glow-sticks, the toddler called to her father, Jake.
“Seat! Seat!” she said, gesturing to the cushion next her as he settled into the couch for another reading of his youngest daughter's favorite book, courtesy of the Imagination Library.
“Chug, chug, chug … chug, chug, chug … ding dong!” her mother read.
Creating an equitable experience for children of various socioeconomic and geographic backgrounds was a critical concern for Parton when she initially launched the Imagination Library in 1996, and it remains one of the program's core tenets.
As the program has grown, Parton is especially grateful for her partners in various countries and in states across the U.S. She credits local governments and organizations for having invested their time, energy and money into making the program their own.
“It's really run by the community, that's why it's so great ... Gov. Dewine and his wife have been so active in trying to promote this and raising funds,” Parton said. “Because this is not just for poor children — this is for all children.”
The Imagination Library, touted in Ohio by First Lady Fran Dewine and Gov. Mike Dewine, received a $5 million grant from the state legislature in July 2019 to help subsidize the cost of the books each per month, $2.10, for every child enrolled.
The state pays for half of each book, Fran Dewine said, and each county has an affiliate partner (or several) that help cover the costs of the other $1.05.
“It's really a wonderful thing that Dolly Parton is doing, and we're thankful to her,” she said. “There's no time it's more important than right now during this pandemic — as libraries have been closed.”
After watching her own grandchildren receive and read books through a partnership with their local library in southwestern Ohio's Greene County a couple years ago, Fran Dewine became a champion for the Imagination Library.
“I realized how important it is when the kids got that book in the mail and unwrapped it, with their own name on the address label, that excitement of the kids is so important,” she said.
The first lady has plans to ramp up advertisement of the program once the pandemic subsides, to make sure parents and guardians understand they can enroll all children 5 and under online through the Ohio Governor's Imagination Library website. Currently only 34% of eligible children are participants, she said. “Now that every child in Ohio is eligible, I'll try to message statewide how important this is,” Fran DeWine said. “That's a powerful thing we can do, and then we're going to help each affiliate with what they need.”
Over the summer, Ohio's Electric Cooperatives, an electric utility organization that provides services to 77 mostly rural counties across the state,
closed the gap in five remaining counties without affiliate partners to cover monthly book costs.
Cooperatives are mission-driven, CEO Patrick O'loughlin said, and the Imagination Library fits within their community-based principles.
“You can see how Dolly Parton's rural roots align with our rural territory,” he said. “With everything that's happened this year with COVID, what could be better than trying to connect young children and their families by trying to provide them resources?”
And without their contributions in Highland County, through the South Central Power Company co-op, families like the Allgoods might have been out of affordable, accessible reading options.
“I'm just really grateful to have opportunities like this,” Allgood said. “It's nice to have options for middle-class families, especially in rural areas where there's not a lot of programs.”
In the future, Parton recognizes that one day the Imagination Library may move online, but as far as she is concerned, there is nothing that beats a child opening up a book in the mail — a monthly ritual Novalee Allgood has come to love.
“Children still love to get those little books with their little names on it, coming in the mailboxes just for them,” Parton said. “We'll just do whatever, as time rolls along, we'll roll with the times. In the meantime we'll just continue doing everything we can to get more books in the hands of more children.”
Céilí Doyle is a Report for America corps member and covers rural issues in Ohio for The Dispatch. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation at https://bit.ly/3fnsgaz. cdoyle@dispatch.com @cadoyle_18