Dollywood Foundation

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Dollywood Foundation

The Dollywood Foundation Logo
Formation	1986
Founder	Dolly Parton
Headquarters	Sevierville, Tennessee
Location	United States

The Dollywood Foundation was created in 1988 by Dolly Parton to inspire the children in her home county to achieve educational success. Initial efforts focused on decreasing the drop out rate in the county’s high school. In the early 90’s Dolly promised every 7th-grade and 8th-grade student she would personally give them $500 if they graduated from high school. This effort, called the Buddy Program, reduced the drop out rate for these two classes from 35% to 6%. More importantly, the program catalyzed the community to provide additional resources to sustain this improvement in the drop out rate.

In 1995, the Foundation implemented Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in Sevier County, Tennessee. This monthly book gifting program for children under five focused on inspiring a love of books and reading for all preschool children in the county. What was founded as a local program grew into an international movement through the unique partnership among the Foundation, the publisher, the fulfillment centers and the thousands of local organizations who adopted the program. The Imagination Library continues to be the signature program of the Foundation.^[1]

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is a children's book-gifting program that mails free high-quality, age-appropriate books to children from birth to age five, no matter the family's income. After launching in 1995, the program grew quickly. First books were only distributed to children living in Sevier County, Tennessee where Dolly grew up. It became such a success that in 2000 a national replication effort was underway. By 2003, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library had mailed one million books. It would prove to be the first of many millions of books sent to children around the world.

Dolly’s home state of Tennessee pledged to pursue statewide coverage in 2004 and global expansion was on the horizon. After the United States, the program launched in Canada in 2006 followed by the United Kingdom in 2007, Australia in 2013 and the Republic of Ireland in 2019.^[2]

The Imagination Library partners with Local Program Partners who help bring the program to cities, towns and communities around the world. Local Program Partners can be businesses, school districts, small or large organizations, or simply individuals who share in the mission and purpose of the Imagination Library. Local Program Partners are responsible for enrolling children who live within the geographical area they offered the program in. They promote their local programs online and at events. While the Imagination Library negotiates wholesale pricing for the books, the Local Affiliates and Partners are responsible for securing funds to cover that cost. Books are 100% free to enrolled children because their Local Affiliate has secured funds to cover the cost of the books and the shipping fees.^[3]

As of 2024, at least 1 in 7 children in the U.S. were receiving books from Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. The Imagination Library program currently sends roughly 3 million books to children around the world every month.

In 2018, Parton celebrated the delivery of the 100 millionth book since the inception of the program. The Library of Congress hosted an event in February 2018 commemorating the milestone with Parton holding a Story Time to children attending the event.^[4] Then, in 2021, The Library of Congress awarded the Imagination Library, an initiative of The Dollywood Foundation, with the $150,000 David M. Rubenstein Prize for its work in delivering more than 160 million books to children around the world.^[5] Together, Dolly Parton and her book-gifting organization have received honors and awards for their dedication to enriching the lives of children everywhere.

The Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval, Best Practices award from the Library of Congress Literacy Awards and recognition in Reading Psychology are just a few among a long list of the prestigious acknowledgments the program has received.

In addition to the many awards the organization has received, several milestones have been celebrated throughout the years. With each goal achieved a new one takes its place, creating an ever-growing and expanding organizational culture, much like that of Dolly’s always-keep-dreaming mindset.^[6]

In November 2016 massive fires swept through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, known as the 2016 Great Smoky Mountains wildfires. The fires killed more than a dozen people, and destroyed the homes of more than a thousand families in Sevier County, home of The Dollywood Foundation.^[7]

Dolly asked the Foundation to lead the effort to distribute $1,000 per month for 6 months to the families who lost their primary residence. Within two weeks, The Dollywood Foundation, along with her Dollywood companies (Dolly Parton’s Stampede, Dolly Parton’s Lumberjack Adventure, Pirates Voyage, The Dollywood Company), established the ‘My People Fund’^[8]. Those collecting charitable donations from the Dollywood Foundation could collect their funds for up to six months.^[9] Significant donors to the fund include Verizon, Tanger Outlets, Miley Cyrus’ Happy Hippie Foundation, CoreCivic and The Blalock Company.^[10]

In May of 2017, the Foundation concluded the distribution with the announcement that over $12M had been raised and given to the families who lost their homes. Additional funds raised also provided one-time scholarships to high school seniors whose homes were lost to the fires.^[11]

Having graduated from Sevier County High School in 1964, Dolly Parton launched The Dollywood Foundation in 1988 with the initial intention of raising scholarship funds for local high school students.^[12] The Foundation offers five scholarships to the county’s high school seniors to help further their education at any accredited university. The Dolly Parton Scholarship is a $15,000 scholarship awarded annually at each high school. The scholarships are for students who have a dream they wish to pursue and who can successfully communicate their plan and commitment to realize their dreams.^[13]

When the Imagination Library reached its 100-million total book distribution mark, Dolly Parton announced she would be awarding a scholarship to a participant in the library’s program. In November 2016, Parton granted a $30,000 scholarship to a two-year-old girl, one of the library’s newest participants. The little girl was announced as the winner during the Pure & Simple Tour stop in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. The money was placed in an account that will hold the money until the girl enrolls in college. The scholarship, after the 16-year wait, will amount to nearly $50,000.^[14]

The Chasing Rainbows Award was created by the National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY) in Parton's name. First presented to Dolly in 2002, the award is now given annually to a deserving teacher who has overcome hardship. The Imagination Library has since partnered with the NNSTOY.^[15]

By 2006 the Dollywood Foundation’s Imagination Library had spread to 471 communities in 41 states.^[16] The overall rating of the organization was given 4 out of 4 stars by Charity Navigator.^[17] The foundation later spread to the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Australia and Canada. The program helps about 1 million children each month. It is broken down into 6 groups that give recommendations on books depending on when the child was born.^[16]

On April 30, 1988, at Dollywood, Dolly Parton launched the "Buddy Program", where 7th and 8th grade junior high school students in Sevier County picked one friend to sign a contract with agreeing that both pupils would help each other to stay in school and graduate high school. Upon graduation, each of them would receive $500. In the spring of 1992, the first class of graduating buddies each received their $500, with former Tennessee Governor and then U.S. Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander in attendance. In spring 1993, the second class of graduating buddies each received their $500, with then Tennessee Governor Ned McWherter in attendance. The Buddy Program caused the drop-out rate to go down to 6% and kick started her community into creating initiatives to keep kids in school. The foundation also gives out scholarships. Awards are made in the following areas: music, academics, and the environment.^[18]

• Dollywood Foundation Website
• The Imagination Library