“The Book Lady”

The Imagination Library&

What do you think of when you hear “Dolly Parton?”

Do you think this? Or maybe this?

But, have you ever thought about her like this?

Video clip: youtube.com

Video clip: youtube.com

Video clip: The Imagination Library

Growing Up Dolly As a young child Parton often

escaped the harsh life of poverty through her imagination:

Reading Writing Songwriting and music (CMT, 2011)

Her Career She first starting singing on a Knoxville, TN

radio station at age 11. She recorded her first single on Gold Band

Records and began to make a name for herself in her local area.

As soon as she graduated in 1964 she moved to Nashville dreaming of making it “big”

The clip used at the beginning of the presentation is from her first big time job on Porter Wagner’s show in 1967. (CMT, 2011)

Breaking Away In 1974 she left the Wagner show. After leaving the show her career

began to take off. She won several awardsRecorded many new albums and singlesBegan to star in movies, her first being 1980’s

Nine to Five, for which she received an Oscar Nomination. (CMT, 2011)

Country music artist; singer and songwriter who has won countless awards for her music and songwriting (CMT.com: Dolly Parton, 2011)

Movie and television star

The Entertainer

Album cover art

Film and television Appearance media

Images: http://dollypartonmusic.net/community/photos?page=2 and http://dollypartonmusic.net/discography

“The Book Lady”Founder and face of The Imagination

Library since 1996.Parton saw a need for a program that

encouraged young children to fall in love with books. She knew that encouraging parents to read with their children would be the best way to encourage children to read.

Her father never learned to read. He inspired her to turn her attention to a program

that would encourage reading. (A chat with “the Book Lady”, 2003)

Began in Parton’s hometown area of Sevier County in East Tennessee. (Sparking the imagination, 2010)

Parton is quoted as saying that “reading is an experience….It allowed me to travel far beyond our little mountain cabin long before I had the means to travel.” . (Sparking the imagination, 2010)

Founded by Dolly Parton, 1996.The Beginning

Books provided to children once a month in participating communities. (Sparking the imagination, 2010)

By kindergarten children in the program will have a collection of 60 books. (Sparking the imagination, 2010)

In 2010 the

Imagination Library

will have given away

seven million books.

(Sparking the

imagination, 2010)

How does the Program work?Children from birth to age 5

(Piper, 1990)(Carlson, 2001)

Parton giving away anotherBook. (provided by http://www.aph.org/imagination-library/)

More on the Foundation A local agency teams up with the

Imagination Library Foundation to sponsor the program in their area.

That agency will then provide local families with brochures using local public places of interest.

According to David Dotson, executive Director of the Dollywood Foundation, “A key to making the program a success is ensuring that the parents see the books as a gift, not a social service.” (Milliot, 2003)

The Imagination Library representatives get families interested most often by giving mothers a brochure and a book right there at the hospital when their child is born. (Milliot, 2003)

Agencies that sponsor the Imagination Library vary from the United Way to the more recent addition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs signing on to run the Library in some of its Indian communities. (Milliot, 2003)

Expansion Once a community signs on to the

Imagination Library other communities around them begin to show interest.

The Library has expanded to other countries as well; they include, of course, the U.S., Canada, and Great Britain. (Milliot, 2003)

ReferencesCMT. (October 18, 2009). Dolly Parton. Retrieved

October 15, 2011, from: http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/parton_dolly/artist.jhtml

Carlson, N. (2001). Look Out Kindergarten Here I Come! (Reprint). New York: Penguin Group.

[Dolly Parton promotional Images]. Retrieved October 15, 2011, from: http://dollypartonmusic.net/community/photos?page=2

[Dolly Parton Album Covers]. (1980, 2008,2011). Retrieved October 29, 2011, from: http://dollypartonmusic.net/discography

The Dollywood Foundation. (2011). Dolly’s Media Center: Part 1 Educational Video. Retrieved October 17, 2011, from: http://www.imaginationlibrary.com/usa/media_center.php

[Dolly Parton Promotional Image]. Retrieved October 15, 2011, from http://www.aph.org/imagination-library

Gilbert, B. (Producer), & Higgins, C. (Director). 1980. Nine to Five [Motion Picture]. USA: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. Retrieved October 17, 2011, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWKwuZX1tNo

Milliot, Jim. (2003). It Starts with Literacy: Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library helps build the reading habit among kids and parents. Publishers Weekly 250 (1), 26.

Opryland, USA. (Producer). (1974). Jolene [That Good Ole Nashville Music]. Nashville: Showbiz, Inc. Retrieved October 17, 2011, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1plvBR02wDs

Piper, W. (1990). The Little Engine That Could. (Miniature Edition) New York: Platt and Munk.

Reading Today. (2003). A Chat with “the Book Lady”. Reading Today, 20 (4), 4.

Reading Today. (2010). Sparking the Imagination: Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program presents 25 millionth book. Reading Today, 28 (1), 2-2.