From WOOD COUNTY DISTRICT PUBLIC LIBRARY
The Wood County District Public Library and the Dollywood Foundation have announced “Give Like Dolly Day” on Friday, Sept. 25, encouraging the world to make a difference in a child’s life.
Give Like Dolly Day honors Dolly Parton’s lifelong commitment to children. A global day dedicated to supporting her Imagination Library and honoring her legacy of inspiring children to dream big and develop a lifelong love of reading.
As Parton often said, “If you can read, you can do anything, dream anything, and be anything.”
At the heart of Give Like Dolly Day are the thousands of local Imagination Library partners around the world who help carry Parton’s mission forward in their own communities. In Bowling Green, the local partner is the Wood County District Public Library, in partnership with the other public libraries of Wood County.
Parton often called these local Imagination Library partners the “true heroes” of her program. They raise funds, build community support, and work tirelessly to ensure children from birth to age five in their communities receive a free, quality book mailed directly to their home each month.
“For Dolly, giving was always personal and from her heart,” said Jeff Conyers, president of the Dollywood Foundation. “She believed deeply in helping people, especially children, and she always felt if you are in a position to help, you should help. Give Like Dolly Day is an opportunity for people everywhere to not only support their local Imagination Library partners but also other local nonprofits helping children.”
Parton founded the Imagination Library in 1995 in honor of her father, who could not read or write. What began in her home county in east Tennessee has grown into the largest, early childhood book-gifting program in the world, serving children and families through these local partnerships in five countries: U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and Republic of Ireland.
The program is made possible through the continued support of Parton’s estate and the Dollywood Foundation, which invest in the partnerships, resources, and systems that help empower thousands of local program partners. These partners build awareness and provide the funding needed to cover the wholesale cost of the books and mailing for children in their communities. Together, this partnership helps place books into the homes – and hearts – of millions of children around the world.
On Give Like Dolly Day, the public is encouraged to give directly to their local Imagination Library partner to help more children in their community receive books. To give to the local effort, visit https://app.etapestry.com/onlineforms/WoodCountyDistrictPublicLibra/WoodCoDollyPartonImaginationLibrary.html.
In Bowling Green, people can visit the Wood County District Public Library between “9 to 5” on Friday, Sept. 25, to enjoy an Imagination Library story walk, enjoy a “Cup of Ambition” while learning how the local program works to send over 4,400 books to children across Wood County each month, update children’s enrollment, and pose for pictures with a life-size cutout of Parton herself.
Give Like Dolly Day will be celebrated annually on Sept. 25 – a new tradition honoring the way she lived her life: inspiring children to dream more, learn more, care more, and be more.
