Dolly Parton's legacy lives on through book deliveries to kids

CLEVELAND: For 3-year-old Simon Dockery, a trip to the mailbox can mean a new adventure.

Since he was a baby, books from Dolly Parton’s Imagination ​Library have arrived at his family’s Georgia home each month.

Now his younger ‌brother, 11-month-old Samuel, also receives books of his own.

The deliveries have helped turn reading into a family tradition, their mother Olivia Dockery said.

“It’s so exciting and for our family it was like a launch point for ​just the love of books,” Dockery, 30, said in an interview. “Each month, the oldest looks ​forward to going to the mailbox and getting that book out.”

Parton, the ⁠country music star and philanthropist who died on Tuesday at age 80, founded the Imagination Library in ​1995, inspired in part by her father’s inability to read or write.

The program sends free ​books each month to enrolled children from birth until age five.

What began by serving children in Parton’s home county in Tennessee grew into an international literacy initiative operating across five countries.

‘We will always love you’ - world mourns Dolly Parton

The program has distributed more than ​300 million free books worldwide.

Dockery said she did not have an enthusiasm for reading as ​a child and hopes the monthly deliveries will help give her sons something different.

“I didn’t grow up with a ‌love ⁠for books,” she said. “Something that we want to instill is just a love for literature. And having these books provided for us each month just kind of continues that fire.”

The books are selected based on a child’s age, personalized with the child’s name and mailed directly to his ​or her home, helping ​make receiving a new ⁠book an event of its own.

In the US capital city of Washington, more than 100,000 children have participated in the program through a joint ​effort with the Imagination Library and the DC Public Library, according to ​DC Public ⁠Library Executive Director Richard Reyes-Gavilan.

Shami Chimonyo enrolled her 7-month-old daughter shortly after she was born.

Concerns about declining literacy rates motivated her to sign up, Chimonyo said.

“I love that the books are extremely ⁠well-written and ​have great grammar, as well as just they’re a ​great visual for young learners,” Chimonyo said.

“It’s just a treat that we’re looking forward to continue having and receiving.”