Dolly Parton is sending free books to children around the world

Dolly Parton is making it her mission to ensure children worldwide have access to the magic of books.

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The Country icon is celebrating more than three decades of her Imagination Library program, which provides children under the age of 5 the opportunity to enroll and have books mailed to their homes monthly. Currently available in 21 U.S. states in addition to parts of Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia, the program was initially inspired by her humble upbringing.

“In the mountains, a lot of people never had a chance to go to school because they had to work on the farms,” she said during a recent stop at the Folly Theater in Kansas City, Missouri promoting Imagination Library. “They had to do whatever it took to keep the rest of the family going.”

Parton saw the impact literacy can have in an individual’s life specifically with her father, Robert Lee Parton , who she says was “one of the smartest people I’ve ever known,” but was embarrassed since he didn’t know how to read. Her father’s insecurities were also a larger part of what inspired Parton’s to improve literacy worldwide.

“The kids started calling me the ‘book lady,’” Parton said after she started the program in a small population in her home state of Tennessee in 1995 “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.”

Fast forward to present day, The Imagination Library sends more than 3 million books out monthly and since its start, more than 240 million children have received books on its behalf.

“Of course I want to be known as a songwriter and a singer, but I honestly can say that the Imagination Library has meant as much, if not more, to me than nearly anything that I’ve ever done,” shared Parton during a second event in Kentucky.

Find out if you’re currently eligible for books from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library here .