Dolly’s vision was to foster a love of reading among her county’s preschool children and their families by providing them with the gift of a specially selected book each month. READ MORE: The Surprising Connection Between Whitney Houston and Dolly Parton. The library sends children all over the world books to encourage literacy, and Parton started the organization because of her father, who couldn't read or write. “Given all that is going on in the world, I don’t think putting me on a pedestal is appropriate at this time,” Parton said in a statement issued Thursday. Because her father was illiterate, Parton started the Imagination Library before he died in 2000, which is said to have given away over 150 million books to children. In 1995, Dolly Parton launched an exciting new effort, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, to benefit the children of her home county in East Tennessee, USA. The other was Dolly Parton, who’d never acted in a film before, and who stole the movie. Parton's father was illiterate. Andrew Harnik/AP In 1995, Parton was inspired by her father's illiteracy and opened Dolly's Imagination Library in Sevier County, Tennessee, to provide an avenue for kids to learn to read. Known to be a voracious reader herself, Dolly is passionate about improving literacy rates among young children. "My own father didn't get a chance to go to school," she says. Dolly Parton is asking Tennessee lawmakers to withdraw a bill that would erect a statue of her on the Capitol grounds in Nashville. "He couldn't read and write, and that hindered him a … “She would later ask her father, who was illiterate, to help her launch her Imagination Library, which now gives books to children … He loved her work on helping kids read more than her country-star status, she says.” — Gabe Ortíz (@TUSK81) February 1, 2021 Dolly Parton speaking about Dolly's Imagination Library. NASHVILLE. Her father is an illiterate sharecropper, and … How Dolly Parton Turned Her Passion Into a Worldwide Literacy Program Photos: Courtesy of The Dollywood Foundation Early development, including helping children under 5 learn to read, has long been a passion project for singer-songwriter Dolly Parton, in honor of her father. 2000: Parton establishes the Dolly Parton Scholarship Every year, five high school seniors in Sevier County, Tennessee, are awarded the Dolly Parton … https://www.nickiswift.com/244706/dolly-parton-has-led-a-tragic-life