Read the Beautiful Letter Dolly Parton Sent to Imagination Library Graduates: ‘There Is No Limit to What You Can Do’
Dolly Parton ‘s legacy lives on and on.
In addition to her enviable six-decade catalog of country and pop hits , the country icon is being remembered for her historic charitable giving through the Imagination Library.
The nonprofit has distributed more than 330 million free books to children age birth to five around the world over the past 30 years, mailing a new, age-appropriate book each month to children in the U.S., U.K., Ireland, Australia and Canada, regardless of income.
Related Drake Performs 'ICEMAN' Tracks for First Time at Don Toliver's Toronto Show Did Dolly Parton Make Pop Music? Yes, But She Preferred to Call It ‘Dolly Parton Music’ Bush to Headline Triple M Fest During AFL Grand Final Week On the day Parton died last week at age 80 after a brief battle with cancer, Washington Post writer Hannah Sampson shared a picture of the final message Parton sent to kids in the last Imagination Library book they received before starting school.
“Dear Imagination Library Graduate,” wrote Parton.
“My how time flies.
It seems it was only yesterday when your family and friends read you your first story.
You were just a baby.
Now you’re five years old and about to go to school.
How exciting!” And while the book was the last one they would receive from Parton’s charity, she said reading brings a lifetime of joy and adventure.
“This may be your last book from my Imagination Library, but you have to promise me you will keep on reading,” she wrote.
“If you go to your local public library you will find a great number of books just for kids your age.
Every book is a treasure and every time you open one up you will meet new friends and take wonderful journeys to magical places.” Ten-time Grammy winner Parton launched the Imagination Library in 1995 in her native Sevier County, Tenn. and by 2022 the charity was mailing two million books a month around the world.
The effort was inspired by Parton’s father, Lee Parton, who she said never learned to read or write.
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