Music and literacy legend Dolly Parton has numerous Imagination Libraries around West Yorkshire
The Keighley one has been ranked as the 12th biggest in the UK
Dolly Parton, the iconic country singer, passed away on Tuesday in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 80.
Renowned for her music, Dolly has also left a significant legacy through her charitable work in education and literacy in projects such as Dollywood Foundation and Imagination Library.
The Imagination Library, which launched in 1995, has sent over 270 million free books to children from birth to age five, inspired by Dolly Parton's father who couldn’t read or write.
The scheme expanded to the UK in 2007 and began in South Yorkshire and was launched at The Magna Science & Adventure Centre in Rotherham.
There are numerous programmes running throughout West Yorkshire with Imagination Libraries in Bradford, Keighley, Baildon Wakefield and Leeds.
Tributes have been flooding in, praising the singer’s substantial contribution to child literacy.
JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, commemorated Parton’s groundbreaking efforts, terming it “the best contribution to child literacy ever made by a celebrity.”
Education Secretary Lucy Powell and Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney highlighted Parton's indelible impact on children's reading habits worldwide.
Lucy Powell said Parton had “sparked a lifelong love of reading in kids around the world.”
In 2018, Dolly Parton donated the Imagination Library’s 100 millionth book to the Library of Congress in Washington DC, which hailed her as a “titan of children’s literacy.”
Dolly Parton's influence transcended borders, with her Imagination Library extending its support to children in Canada, Australia, and Ireland in recent years.
As people, politicians, and cultural institutions continue to honour her life’s work, the Imagination Library aims to sustain her legacy by providing lasting benefits to children's education across the globe.