Dolly Parton shares why she wants to put books into the hands of children across Kansas

OVERLAND PARK — Dolly Parton was never poor.

Sure, her family never had a lot of money growing up, and in the big family of 12 children, it was easy for any of the children to not receive enough attention.

But Parton never lacked for love, and it was this love that propelled the favorite daughter of Tennessee to country super stardom, and a deep sense of service, she told a crowd at the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park.

Parton, on Monday, arrived in Kansas to help celebrate the state's Imagination Library, a program she helps support in sending children's books to every family in the state.

Gov. Laura Kelly introduced Parton, and presented her with a proclamation declaring Aug. 14 "Dolly Parton Day" across the state, as well as a copper sunflower made of material removed from the Kansas Statehouse during renovations.

The governor lauded Parton's advocacy and philanthropy as making an indelible mark in the futures of Kansas children.

"Today's event showcases the emphasis we have put on early childhood experiences," Kelly said. "Whether it's in child care settings or preschool or other early childhood education systems," Kelly said. "What Dolly Parton has done by creating Imagination Library is just phenomenal, and she's done all this work from the bottom of her heart."

Imagination Library has put nearly 4 million books in young Kansans' hands

Parton, who grew up with an illiterate dad, always knew the value of learning to read from an early age in the poor mountain communities of Tennessee.

"My daddy didn't get a chance to go to school," Parton told attendees of the celebration, "but he was so smart, and that troubled him a lot. It troubled me that my daddy was troubled."

That's why in 1995, she began the Imagination Library program, which provides the infrastructure for libraries and children's organizations around the country to purchase and send high-quality, age-appropriate books at wholesale cost to children.

The program regularly mails more than 2 million books to families around the country each month, with children receiving the books until their 5th birthday.

In Kansas, the city of Pratt in 2005 earned the distinction of starting the first Imagination Library outside of Parton's home state of Tennessee.

Since then, Kansas-affiliated programs have helped send more than 3.8 million books to children around the state. With funding from the Legislature, the Kansas Children's Cabinet and Trust Fund was recently able to ensure 112 programs across the state served children in all 105 counties, helping Kansas become the 15th state in the country to have statewide coverage.

About 60,000 children now participate in Kansas' Imagination Library, 10,000 of whom joined in the past month since the announcement of Parton's visit.

Column: Dolly Parton's Imagination Library worthy of praise, but government still must step up

Three of the state parks — El Dorado, Milford and Clinton — additionally have story trails, which incorporate books from the Imagination Library.

Dolly Parton 'would rather drop dead' than retire

To cap the celebration, Parton played two of her hit songs, including "Coat of Many Colors," which she dedicated to mothers around the state. That song tells the story of a patchwork coat that Parton's mother had created for her out of the necessity of poverty. Parton wore that coat proudly as a symbol of her mother's love.

At age 77, Parton said she has no plans of slowing down, she said in a radio interview last month.

"I would never retire. I’ll just hopefully drop dead in the middle of a song on stage someday, hopefully one I've written," Parton, told Greatest Hits Radio Thursday host Ken Bruce.

Earlier this summer, Parton was recognized with three Guiness World Records for most studio albums released by a female country singer (65), the longest time span between No. 1 hits on the U.S. Top Country Albums chart for a female artist (43 years 156 days), and the most Top 10 entries on the U.S. Top Country Albums chart by a female artist (48).

Despite her continued activity, Parton in October had told Pollstar that she doesn't plan on touring again, since regular performances take a lot of time and energy she'd rather devote to being with her husband.

More: Dolly Parton breaks 3 more Guinness World Records: See all 10 of her titles

Still, she said she is open to one-off performances over weekends or at festivals. In the meantime, she hopes to continue being actively involved in her philanthropy work. Parton recently received a $100 million grant from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to continue her charitable work and service as she sees fit.

"I wake up with new dreams every day, and new thoughts every day," Parton told the Kansas crowd. "I'll just continue dreaming, and hopefully I can continue to do more things to help more people."

Rafael Garcia is an education reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached at rgarcia@cjonline.com or by phone at ‪785-289-5325. Follow him on Twitter at @byRafaelGarcia.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Dolly Parton celebrates reading with Kansas Imagination Library