Dolly Parton Awarded Title of ‘Kentucky Colonel’ After Expanding Her Children’s Literacy Program Into the State

Dolly Parton attends the 51st Academy of Country Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 3, 2016. David Becker/Getty Images

Country music legend Dolly Parton has been awarded the honorary title of “Kentucky Colonel” in recognition of her efforts to improve children’s literacy in the Bluegrass State.

On Aug. 27, Parton, 78, visited the historic Lyric Theatre in downtown Lexington, where Gov. Andy Beshear bestowed her with the highest title of honor given by the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

The award celebrated the statewide launch of her book gifting program, Imagination Library, which mails out free, age-appropriate books each month to children who are registered with the program up until they start kindergarten.

“Colonel Dolly Parton is celebrating a milestone for her philanthropy,” the official Instagram account for the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels shared on Aug. 29. “Now children across all 120 counties in Kentucky are able and encouraged to participate in the free book-gifting program.”

In a press release, Parton conveyed her enthusiasm for joining forces with the governor and his wife, First Lady Britainy Beshear, to ensure that children have access to books.

“It warms my heart to know that every child from birth to age 5 across the state can register to receive the gift of a monthly Imagination Library book,” she said. “Together, we’re inspiring a love of reading that will last a lifetime.”

Governor Beshear shared a similar sentiment, noting that he and his wife “have seen first-hand how important early childhood education is.”

“Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is making a huge difference for kids in Kentucky and beyond, so they can spend time reading and learning with their families,” he said. “We were so honored to have Dolly Parton herself with us here today to celebrate her legacy and the life-changing impact that books can have on a child’s future.”

Imagination Library

The “Jolene” singer founded the Imagination Library in 1995 in her home county of Sevier County, Tennessee, broadening the program across the state nine years later.

Per the program’s website, the Grammy Award-winning artist’s initiative is also available in 20 other states, including Washington, Montana, Kansas, Arkansas, Ohio, North Carolina, and West Virginia, as well as Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Republic of Ireland.

On Aug. 27, Parton also made an appearance at the Folly Theater in Kansas City, Missouri, to celebrate the statewide rollout of her program last November. In a joint statement, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson and First Lady Teresa Parson said they were “thrilled to welcome” Parton to the Show-Me State.

“Ensuring Missouri’s children have a quality education is near and dear to us, and we know the earlier we can get children excited about reading and learning the better equipped they are to find success and achieve their American Dream down the road,” they said in the statement. “We appreciate Dolly, her team, and [The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education] for helping bring these quality educational resources to Missouri children.”

During the event, which was livestreamed locally on PBS, Parton shared that she was inspired to create Imagination Library after witnessing the difficulties that her father—Robert Lee Parton, who died in 2000 at the age of 79—had with literacy.

“The way that it got started was because of my own dad,” she said, noting that her father was raised in a rural area and never had the opportunity to get an education. “In the mountains, a lot of people never had a chance to go to school because they had to work on the farms and they had to do whatever it took to keep the rest of the family going.”

However, despite not being able to read or write, her father “was one of the smartest people” she had ever known, she said. “I loved, respected, and admired my daddy.”

“Knowing that my dad was a little bit embarrassed by the fact that he couldn’t read and write as a grown-up—and he thought that it was something he couldn’t learn to do after he was grown—I got the idea to start a program ... and I said, ‘Daddy, I got a program in mind and I’d like for you to help me with it,'” the singer recalled.

Parton said the program quickly took off from there. “Me and Daddy were just working away doing all that we did. ... And the kids started calling me the ‘book lady,’ and Daddy was more proud of that than he was that I was a star. But Daddy got to feeling like he had really done something great as well,” she recounted.

“So my daddy got to live long enough to see the imagination library take off and do well and now we’re all over the world.”

According to Imagination Library’s website, the program has gifted more than 247 million books to children around the world as of July, with 3,079,291 gifted that month alone.