08/26/2026
Most people know Dolly Parton for the rhinestones, the music, and a whole lot of big hair.
Around here, we also know her as one of our favorite literacy heroes!
In 1995, Dolly started the Imagination Library in her home county in Tennessee. Her inspiration was deeply personal: her father couldn't read or write, and she wanted children growing up in her community to have opportunities he never had.
What started in one small corner of Tennessee grew into something extraordinary.
Today, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library sends free, age-appropriate books directly to children from birth to age five. This helps families build home libraries before their children ever walk into a kindergarten classroom.
And maybe our favorite part?
There is no income requirement.
Because access to books shouldn't be something a child has to qualify for.
That's a belief we hold pretty tightly at Karina's Little Library, too.
A child doesn't need to prove they need a book.
They don't need money.
They don't need to bring another book back.
If there's a book waiting on our shelves that makes their eyes light up, it's theirs.
We may be a very little library, but we're incredibly proud to be part of a much bigger idea:
Put books in children's hands.
Let them keep them.
And see where those stories take them.
Here's to Dolly and to everyone doing their little part to raise a generation of readers!
— Aunt Amber & Karina's Little Library 🦋
