United Way of South Central Illinois joins people around the world in mourning the loss of Dolly Parton, while celebrating a legacy that has reached far beyond music and directly into the homes of thousands of children across South Central Illinois.
Parton, who died Tuesday at age 80, was one of the most recognizable singers and songwriters of her generation. But to families participating in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, she was also the woman who believed every child deserved the chance to grow up surrounded by books. Nearly 100,000 of those books have been delivered to homes in Marion, Jefferson, Washington and Clinton Counties.
The Executive Director of the United Way of South Central Illinois Natalie Shook says Parton created Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in 1995 in honor of her father, Robert Lee Parton, who could not read or write. What began as a program for children in Parton’s home county in Tennessee eventually grew into an international early-childhood literacy movement, mailing free, age-appropriate books directly to children from birth through age five.
United Way of South Central Illinois has been proud to serve as a local Imagination Library partner, helping carry Dolly’s vision into communities throughout the region.
To date, 95,497 books have been delivered to children locally through the program, including:
- 42,821 books in Jefferson County
- 35,315 books in Marion County
- 17,201 books in Washington County
- 160 books in Clinton County
The program recently expanded into Clinton County through a partnership between United Way of South Central Illinois and Regional Office of Education #13, bringing Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to even more families across the region.
“For us, those 95,497 books are not simply a number,” Shook said. “They represent children running to the mailbox because their book arrived. They represent parents and grandparents sitting down at bedtime to read together. They represent children entering school already knowing that books can be exciting, comforting and full of possibility.”
Parton’s Imagination Library was rooted in the belief that a child’s circumstances should never determine whether books are available in their home.
