Dolly Parton's 'incredible' book scheme praised

Tributes have been paid to Dolly Parton from branches of her Imagination Library charity across Yorkshire.

The much-loved singer died, aged 80, after a "brief battle with cancer", her management team said on Tuesday.

Set up in 1995, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library has provided free books to millions of children in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and Republic of Ireland.

Deborah Bullivan, who ran the Imagination Library in Rotherham - the first to be launched in Europe in 2007 - praised the "incredible" country music icon for her work to inspire children to read.

The initiative, which still runs today, gives a book a month to children under five, with more than 300 million gifted worldwide.

Parton previously said the Imagination Library was set up as a tribute to her father.

"He was the smartest man I have ever known but I know in my heart his inability to read probably kept him from fulfilling all of his dreams," she wrote on the charity's website.

"Inspiring kids to love to read became my mission. In the beginning, my hope was simply to inspire the children in my home county but here we are today with a worldwide program that gives a book a month to well over 3 million children."

The singer visited Rotherham in 2007 to launch the Imagination Library scheme in Europe at the Magna Science Adventure Centre. She also visited the town's hospital.

Bullivan said: "Thousands of children in Rotherham received a book every month from the Imagination Library, they were fantastic books and it was delivered to them in their own name."

The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust said: "Dolly Parton leaves an incredible legacy as not only one of the world's most loved entertainers, but also a passionate advocate for children's literacy.

"We fondly remember her visit to Rotherham Hospital in 2007 during the launch of her Imagination Library programme in the UK, where the first book - The Tales of Peter Rabbit - was given to a one-day-old baby girl on our maternity ward."

Eileen Driver, the chair of the Stokesley Imagination Library, in North Yorkshire, told Radio Tees: "That vision she had about books and this understanding of sharing stories was remarkable.

"You can't quantify that joy and pleasure of sharing stories, and it closes the literacy gap."

In Wakefield, the scheme has delivered more than 66,000 books to nearly 2,500 children across the city's most disadvantaged areas since 2017, according to Wakefield Council.

Ansar Hayat, cabinet member for adults and health, said the 9 to 5 singer had "touched the lives of millions of people around the world through her music and work promoting reading with young people through the Imagination Library".

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