Dolly Parton’s family is asking fans to honor the late country music icon by supporting one of the causes closest to her heart: children’s literacy.
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Following Parton’s death on Aug. 25 at the age of 80, her family encouraged fans to remember her by donating to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library instead of sending flowers.
“Dolly’s fans and friends from around the world are encouraged to pay tribute to Dolly on social media by tagging @DollyParton or by leaving a message at www.dollyparton.com,” the family said. “In lieu of flowers the family asks for donations to be made to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.”
Parton established the Imagination Library in 1995 in her native Sevier County, Tennessee. Inspired by her father, who was unable to read and write, she created the program with the goal of putting books into the hands of young children.
The program now operates across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and the Republic of Ireland.
It provides children from birth through age 5 with free, high-quality, age-appropriate books delivered directly to their homes, regardless of their family’s income.
Parton wanted the program to make reading exciting for children while giving them an early opportunity to develop a love of books.
“When I was growing up in the hills of East Tennessee, I knew my dreams would come true,” Parton said in a statement about the program. “I know there are children in your community with their own dreams.”
She added, “The seeds of these dreams are often found in books and the seeds you help plant in your community can grow across the world.”
The literacy initiative became so important to Parton that she once said she would rather be remembered as the “book lady” than the “Queen of Country Music.”
In 2025, Parton told USA TODAY how much her foundation meant to her.
“That’s a very warm, loving, emotional thing for me to think that I’m the book lady and that I’ve done something for the little kids because, being from a big family, I have a special love for children,” Parton said.
She also emphasized why investing in young children mattered to her.
“They’re the future. They’re the ones that’s going to be going on after us,” she said. “And so I think if you can give them a head start, a little chance of any kind in their early years and their most impressionable years, that’s a good thing.”
Through the Imagination Library, Parton’s legacy will continue reaching children with the books she believed could help inspire their dreams.
Per their website, they have proudly given out over 332 million books to children.