Dolly Parton celebrates Imagination Library milestone at Lexington’s Lyric Theatre

Dolly Parton visited Lexington’s Lyric Theatre Tuesday to celebrate the expansion of the country music icon’s Imagination Library in front of state legislators and educators.

The Imagination Library is a book gifting program for children up to five years old. The program is now available in all 120 Kentucky counties. So far, it has delivered more than six million books to 45 percent of Kentucky’s kids.

“I dream big. I always have. You never think about how much, or how many,” Parton said. At the time, I was just wanting to do something great for my daddy, and something that I could be involved in with my dad.”

The Imagination Library of Kentucky initiative began in 2021, and officially signed into law in 2022.

Parton reflected on just how big the program has grown in a sitdown talk with Governor Andy Beshear and First Lady Britainy Beshear.

“I'll always be a singer-songwriter, but I just hope people will just say she was a good old girl,” Parton said. “You know? She tried hard, she worked hard, and she tried to make the world a better place and tried to make people happy, and I will be doing that till I keel over.”

Jane Beshear, former First Lady and chair of the Kentucky State Advisory Board, stressed the importance of childhood literacy during closing remarks.

“We're celebrating the fact that it's in all 120 counties, but we've only covered about half of the children,” Beshear said. “Let's get the rest of those children involved.”

Parton was also inducted as a Kentucky Colonel during the event, and Gov. Beshear proclaimed August as Imagination Library of Kentucky Month.

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