Dolly Parton's death on Tuesday, August 25th has sparked an outpouring of tributes and toasts from fellow artists and fans alike, with people across the world sharing stories of how both Parton's music and her philanthropy has impacted them.

Over the decades, the Tennessee legend has become known for her tremendous generosity, often giving huge sums to noble causes - such as her $1 million donation to COVID-19 and her $1 million donation to the Hurricane Helene relief effort.

One of the most prominent and transformative programs Parton became a part of early in her career was the Imagination Library, a literacy program helping children learn how to read.

Since its inception in 1995, Parton's Imagination Library has donated over 332 million books to children from a host of countries, with 3.5 million free books mailed out every month. The mission is to help young children build up their libraries, with each child being given a free, age-appropriate book every month until the age of 5.

In a touching conversation with Apple Music's Kelleigh Bannen in 2023, Parton shared how she was inspired to start the Imagination Library because of her father's illiteracy.

Parton reflected, “Now that, that was a little story that started from an honest place...My Daddy couldn't read and write, and we were just mountain people and so many people in the mountains live so far back and have so many kids, the school house is too far away, you know? You have to walk to school to do whatever”.

She went on to share how her father, Robert Lee Parton, had a large number of siblings, much like Parton herself, “Daddy was from a huge family as well...So Daddy, like so many people, had to stay home and didn't get a chance to go to school. And Daddy was always kind of embarrassed, but Daddy was so smart and I've often wondered what old Daddy might have done had he known how to read and write”.

The ‘9 to 5’ hitmaker continues, “So I started this little program probably close to 30 years ago now with my Dad. You know, I told Daddy, I said...‘There are millions of people around this world that can't read and write, you're not the only one. You don't need to feel embarrassed about that...I'm gonna start a little program and you're going to help me with it’. You know, because I wanted to get Daddy involved in it”.

Thankfully, Parton's father survived long enough to see the Imagination Library start to make a real difference in so many children's lives, “I started the Imagination Library in our home county, in hopes that maybe it might do good a couple of counties over. But the next thing you know the program went Tennessee-wide and the governor...He took it, made it all of Tennessee, then the next thing you know we're in Canada, and now, as you mentioned, we're all over the world in different places, and we're hopefully going to be statewide in the next five to ten years”.

Parton concludes by highlighting how proud her father was, “We've given away I think 205 million [books] to date since we started. And my Dad got to live long enough to see that whole thing flourish and hear the kids call me ‘The Book Lady’, and he thought that was the grandest thing. He took great pride in it, and I'd bring him in in any and all the ways that I could...His picture hangs in the office in our Imagination Library office...a big picture of my Dad dressed up in a suit - and he never wore suits he always wore his farmer clothes...I was real proud of that”.

It's one of innumerable instances in which Parton has used her platform and her wealth for good, with the ‘Jolene’ singer-songwriter sure to be remembered not only for her incredible artistry and country music success, but her life-changing philanthropy.