DOLLY’S IRISH GIFT: How a Country Music Legend Put 200,000 Books Into the Hands of Irish Children

Country music legend Dolly Parton has helped bring the magic of reading to thousands of Irish children through an extraordinary scheme inspired by her father’s struggle with illiteracy.

Ireland became just the fifth country in the world to introduce Dolly’s Imagination Library when the programme launched here in 2019.

The first Irish scheme was established in Dublin 24 and coordinated by the Tallaght-based Childhood Development Initiative, with support from An Post, Dublin Rotary Club and Shamrock Rovers.

Under the scheme, registered children receive a free, age-appropriate book personally addressed to them every month from birth until they turn five.

By March 2022, more than 200,000 books had already been gifted to pre-school children in Ireland.

And there is a distinctly Irish ending to every child’s journey through the programme: the final book currently sent to them when they turn five is The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde.

When the scheme first arrived in Ireland, Dolly personally encouraged parents in the Tallaght area to register their children.

“You can never get enough books into the hands of young children,” she said.

The global superstar said she knew Irish children had dreams of becoming doctors, inventors, teachers, writers and singers—and believed the seeds of those dreams could often be found inside books.

The heartwarming project was inspired by Dolly’s father, Robert Lee Parton, who was unable to read or write.

Dolly established the Imagination Library in her native Sevier County, Tennessee, in 1995 after witnessing the impact illiteracy had on her father throughout his life.

Speaking to Ryan Tubridy on The Late Late Show in 2022, she revealed just how deeply his experience had affected her.

“He felt crippled by the fact that he couldn’t read and write,” she said, describing him as one of the smartest people she had ever known.

Dolly involved her father in the project from the beginning and later said the pride he took in the Imagination Library meant more to him than her worldwide fame.

What began as a small local initiative in Tennessee eventually grew into a global reading revolution.

As of June this year, the Imagination Library was sending more than 3.5 million books to children every month. More than 325 million books had been distributed across Ireland, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia.

But the scheme’s success in Ireland has added a special chapter to Dolly’s remarkable story.

From its beginnings in Tallaght to the hundreds of thousands of books delivered through Irish letterboxes, the Imagination Library has given children the chance to build their own collection of books—completely free of charge.

It is an extraordinary legacy born from one father’s struggle and transformed by his daughter into a gift for millions of children.

Dolly Parton may be famous for her songs, films and unmistakable style, but for thousands of Irish families, she is also the woman helping children discover a lifelong love of reading—one book at a time.

Her remarkable philanthropy, however, extends far beyond childhood literacy.