Why Gen Z remembers country singer Dolly Parton as ‘Book Lady’

Ode to a father who could not read

Launched in memory of her father, Robert Lee Parton, a farmer who could not read, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a book-gifting initiative where children under the age of five receive an age-appropriate book every month. “He was the smartest man I have ever known but I know in my heart his inability to read probably kept him from fulfilling all of his dreams,” Parton wrote of her father on the website. “Inspiring kids to love to read became my mission.”

While the initiative started in Tennessee, where she grew up, it now includes many areas in the USA, Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, and the United Kingdom. Those with a child under five years can sign up, regardless of financial status, as long as they live in a participating community.

A 2026 study, authored by Claire Galea, Head of Research at United Way Australia, found that children part of Parton’s Imagination Library were more likely to demonstrate key emergent literacy skills, including alphabet knowledge and receptive and expressive vocabulary, compared to children who were not enrolled.

Beneficiaries of her library paid tribute to her on social media for the impact she had on their children’s lives. “My daughter literally got a book delivered from the library yesterday,” one Reddit user wrote following Parton’s death. Another parent shared: “One of my son and I’s favorite part of the month is finding his newest book in the mailbox!”

50 books a year

In the same 2019 interview, Parton said her mother inspired her love for books. She would narrate passages from the Bible and fairy tales. She is now a voracious reader, devouring 50 books a year, ranging from historical fiction, religions of the world, New York Times bestsellers, books on Reese Witherspoon’s book club, mysteries, romances and drugstore paperbacks among others.

Her favourites included Canadian–American author Sara Gruen’s historical romance Water for Elephants (2006), French writer Alexandre Dumas’ 19th-century adventure novel The Count of Monte Cristo, American author Lee Smith’s 1981 novel on mental illness Black Mountain Breakdown.

Songwriter and storyteller

She also wrote children’s books, including Coat of Many Colors (1996), an adaptation of her autobiographical song by the same name, in which she touches upon growing up in a modest household and the mocking she endured. She also wrote I Am a Rainbow (2019) to help children with their emotions, and the Billy the Kid series.

Her first memoir, Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business, delves into growing up in the Great Smoky Mountains, just outside Tennessee, leaving home at age 18, friendships with famous people and her marriage.

She went on to expand her autobiographical oeuvre to include Songteller: My Life in Lyrics (2020) written with music journalist Robert K Oermann, Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones (2023), written with Holly George-Warren, which records her fashion through 450 full-color photographs, and Star of the Show: My Life on Stage (2025), written with Tom Roland, which focusses on her career as a live performer.

In 2022, she co-authored Run, Rose, Run with bestselling thriller writer James Patterson and two years later she collaborated with her sister, Rachel Parton George, for the cookbook, Good Lookin’ Cookin’: A Year of Meals—A Lifetime of Family, Friends, and Food.

Parton lives on in the hearts of her legion of fans through her songs, acting, books and philanthropy, especially the Imagination Library.