In 2000, the Imagination Library took a bold step forward in the campaign to inspire a love of reading and made the program available for national replication. Always leading off with Dolly’s favorite title, “The Little Engine That Could,” this millennial expansion was the start of delivering this popular favorite as well as more quality books into the homes of many more children.
The Dollywood Foundation was focused on the further development of this program and promoting it throughout the entire country. Sponsors and community champions began to emerge across the country to finance the cost of the books and the mailing expense. Locally managed and designed to reflect the unique personality of the community, each operating Affiliate is responsible for the program’s longevity.
Throughout the year, negotiations continued with publishers to improve the quality of the individual titles while maintaining if not lowering, the cost. Combining Affiliate strategies and ongoing analytics brought more attention to early human growth, through studies on brain research, language skills, motor development, socialization or literacy skills, confirming that the years between birth and five are the most critical time in the development of a child.
Inspired by her humble beginnings and her big childhood dreams, Dolly created the Imagination Library to instill a love of reading and learning in the children within her community. The book gifting program sends a free, age-appropriate book to registered children every month from birth to age five. Dolly wanted to get kids excited about books and feel the magic books create. Reflecting on her vision, Dolly said,
"My dream has been for every child to have a library of books that their parents can read to them from, from the time they are born until they start school. The Imagination Library was designed to help children Dream More, Learn More, Care More, Be More and by golly it's really working."
The program was made available to all children in Sevier County, TN under age five. Each child received the same introductory book, which happens to be Dolly's favorite children's story, "The Little Engine That Could," by Watty Piper. From birth to age five, children receive a 60-book library completely free and delivered right to their mailbox, with their name on the label.
The Imagination Library's first book order totaled 1,760 books mailed to the children of Sevier County, TN.
The program launched in 1991 as an effort to decrease the dropout rate in Sevier County. In the early 1990s, there was a dropout problem in Sevier County schools. Over 30% of all students never graduated a decision which not only crippled their own lives but made it increasingly difficult for Sevier County to prosper.
Research conducted by The Dollywood Foundation identified seventh and eighth grades as the two key years when children made conscious decisions about finishing school. The Dollywood Foundation started exploring ways to address this problem. After a few months of discussion, Dolly proposed the Buddy Program.
In 1991, seventh and eighth grade students were invited to a special assembly in the newly built Dolly Parton Celebrity Theatre at Dollywood. A very special guest would lead the assembly, none other than Dolly Parton herself. Dolly told the students that day she wanted each of them to choose a Buddy and if they didn’t have a Buddy she would find one for them. She went on make a very special announcement: she offered to personally give $500 to each and every student in the seventh and eighth grades if they graduated from high school. However, there was one additional requirement: each student’s Buddy must graduate as well and they had to sign a contract to pledge to do everything they could to make sure both graduated.
The program was a great success and ultimately the dropout rate for those classes plummeted to 6%. More importantly, it served as a catalyst for the community to rally around a number of initiatives to keep children in school. These children are now the new generation of leaders in Sevier County and all proudly recall that special moment when they graduated from high school and Dolly Parton handed them a check for $500!
With the successful launch of Dollywood in 1986, Dolly’s attention quickly turned to working with the management of the park to identify ways to better serve the children of Sevier County. Although for many years she provided money to help the Sevier County High School band with scholarships, she wanted to do even more for the kids in her hometown.
All agreed there was a need for a foundation to establish and fund these good works. In April of 1988, The Dollywood Foundation was created. The original board members were Dolly, Ted Miller, Barbara Joines, Ken Bell, Charles Kite, Edna Rogers, Jo Blalock, Bob DeBusk, Ann Warden and Jack Parton.
The initial effort was targeted at providing scholarships for seniors at the local high schools and interestingly enough, to encourage the members of Dolly’s fan club to do more to help children. This was an important first step for a home-grown foundation on a journey that would ultimately lead to a global presence positively impacting the lives of millions of children.
