Books offered to children through Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, Aug. 25, 2026. PC: Fox 11 Online
(WTAQ-WLUK) — Country music legend and cultural icon, Dolly Parton, has died following a brief battle with cancer. She leaves behind a legacy in both music and service to the community.
As recently as 2008, Dolly Parton was performing at the Resch Center. Fast forward to 2026, her mark continues to be felt in Northeast Wisconsin, just in a different way.
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program has been around for 31 years. Over 330 million books have been mailed worldwide.
Parton’s Imagination Library program allows children to receive one free book per month up to age 5. There are several affiliates of the program across our area.
In Green Bay, the Howe Community Resource Center launched the program in 2023.
“Currently, we support anywhere between 750 to 800 families. Their kids are excited about reading. They’re excited to get mail, you know, with their name on it,” said Howe Community Resource Center Executive Director, Corrissa Frank.
In 2024, United Way Manitowoc County became another affiliate.
“We are up to 1,300 kids active every month in the Dolly Parton Imagination Library program locally with over 350 children that have already graduated. So, altogether we’ve mailed just shy of 24,000 books to kids just in Manitowoc County,” said United Way Manitowoc County Program and Outreach Director, Ben Peters.
For all children in Parton’s Imagination Library program, they start with the same book. That’s “The Little Engine That Could.” When the children are ready to graduate, they all finish with the same book too. That’s “Look Out Kindergarten Here I Come.”
Affiliates of Parton’s program pay $2.60 per book. When serving many kids, fundraising becomes important. In Manitowoc, a Dolly Walk, put on by an action committee of United Way Manitowoc County, has been a big money maker.
“It’s just a group of people taking a two-mile easy walk through a beautiful lakeside area. We have ‘Dolly Wigs’ that we wear, and we just celebrate Dolly and we celebrate reading,” said Women United Action Committee Chairperson, Erin Erlandson.
Imagination Library affiliate, Empowered Tutoring, serves children in Kaukauna, Greenleaf, Seymour, Kimberly, and Wrightstown. It released a statement that reads in part:
We at Empowered Tutoring are shocked and saddened today to learn of the passing of Dolly Parton, a woman whose generosity, warmth, and unshakable belief in the power of reading touched more lives than she could ever have counted — including the children and families we serve.
From No. 1 hits to page 1, Dolly Parton leaves behind a legacy of an iconic singer and philanthropist.
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