Dolly Parton's life and the desire to save children from the tyranny of the screen

Flowers and notes left outside Dolly Parton's house in Brentwood, Tennessee, on August 26, 2026. [AFP]

Many people have written to eulogise Dolly Parton as a great musician. But besides her music, Dolly Parton had a special relationship with books. This is perhaps one of the most personal and revealing parts of her legacy. For her, books were never simply about education. They represented a way out of the limitations of poverty. That is of interest to me. Let me explain.

It all began with her father, a hardworking man who, without ever learning to read or write, somehow managed to raise 12 children — a rather impressive achievement in itself! I suspect her father’s inability to read and write stayed with Dolly. That is why, when she became successful, she wanted to do something that would give children the opportunities her father never had. In 1995, she created Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in her home county of Sevier County, Tennessee. The idea was simple: send a child one free, carefully chosen book every month, from birth until the age of five, regardless of the family’s income. Dolly wanted children to fall in love with books.