Keeping Dolly’s dream alive: Going behind the scenes of the Imagination Library, and the impact since her death

What This Story Is About

• The story follows an Imagination Library book from publisher to a child’s mailbox and shows how Knox County donations and sign-ups increased after Dolly Parton died.

Why It Matters

• Knox County has raised more than $150,000 for the program since Parton’s death, and almost 950 children joined in the first month.

What Happens Next

• “Give Like Dolly Day,” introduced Sept. 25, is planned as an annual tradition, and Penguin Random House is printing more books to keep up with new readers.

For Context

• Parton started the Imagination Library because of her father, who she said was the smartest person she had ever known, but could not read or write.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - When Dolly Parton died, her family asked fans to donate to the Imagination Library in her honor. Since then, Knox County has raised more than $150,000 for the program.

The Imagination Library started in Sevier County. It has been around for 31 years and has gifted more than 300 million books.

How the program started

Parton started the Imagination Library because of her father. She said he was the smartest person she had ever known, but he could not read or write.

Kay Hurst, program manager of the Imagination Library of Knox County, said the program sends one book every month to a child at no cost to the family. The book has the child’s name on the label and goes to the child’s mailbox until they turn 5.

The program is available in five countries and gifts more than 3 million books to children every month.

From publisher to mailbox

Every child receives a welcome book. Lisa Vitelli, vice president and director of premium literacy sales at Penguin Random House, said that book has been “The Little Engine That Could” since the company began partnering with the program. The book was originally written in 1930.

Illustrator Dan Santat has worked with the program for years and reimagined the title.

“You want to keep it fresh, um, so that it continues on for a long time,” Santat said.

Penguin Random House has been the program’s exclusive publishing partner for 27 years, Vitelli said.

“So that means that it’s only Penguin Random House books that are featured in the Imagination Library,” she said.

A Dollywood Foundation board picks each book. Literacy experts, educators and child development professionals make the choice together. Vitelli said they read every page aloud.

“They’re looking for, first of all, age appropriate... titles that children are going to want to be read again and again... we call that the read aloud spark,” Vitelli said.

After the books are chosen, they are sent to Direct Mail Services in Knox County. Hurst said Parton went to the company and told them what she wanted to do.

“Every single book that’s mailed in North America has a mailing label from Knox County,” Hurst said.

Hurst added Parton also negotiated with the publisher to make sure the books were feasible. Each book costs about $2.60.

Donations and sign-ups after Parton’s death

“Dolly asked that our communities kind of turn out for Imagination Library in her memory. And Knox County, like, really took that to heart,” Hurst said.

Half of a year’s budget came in during a single month.

“And we’re sad that it took this, but it’s wonderful to see us making that much of an impact,” Hurst said.

Fundraising numbers provided for the Imagination Library of Knox County include:

• $25,000 raised between Aug. 25 and Sept. 22, enough to buy books for more than 1,500 children for a year.
• More than $109,000 raised at the annual Seeds of Imagination luncheon, enough to keep almost 7,000 children reading.
• More than $12,000 raised on Dolly Day, enough for another 750 children to get books. The event was introduced Sept. 25 as “Give Like Dolly Day” and is planned as an annual tradition.

Knox County has mailed over 4.1 million books. The program needs to raise $288,000 every year, and the governor matches that amount. That totals nearly $600,000 every year for Knox County.

Sign-ups also increased. Almost 950 children joined in the first month, in August.

“There was a huge influx of children who were registered and updated after Dolly passed away,” Hurst said

Penguin Random House said it is seeing increased demand nationwide and is printing more books to keep up with the new readers.

“We were more motivated than ever to continue to do what we do on behalf of this program and to keep it forever in the world,” Vitelli said.