Impact of Dolly Parton's book scheme praised

The impact of Dolly Parton's children's literary scheme has been praised by a former MP who helped bring the scheme to his constituency.

Tributes have been poured in for the country singer who died aged 80. Her Imagination Library has had a presence across the South since it was launched in the UK in 2007.

Martin Salter, who was the MP for Reading West from 1997 until 2010, said he believed his constituency was the second place in the country to receive books.

Just over 3 million children are thought to have benefited from the scheme, which operates in the United States, UK, Australia, Canada and Ireland, with more than 330 million books distributed.

Salter said the aim of the scheme was the put books in homes where "reading was not the norm" and that Parton will be remembered in part for her "generosity and philanthropy".

Her programme was first launched in Sevier County, Tennessee, where the star grew up and was first inspired by her illiterate father.

Salter said it was a good tool in trying to normalise reading in homes where that might not have taken place otherwise.

He said: "In my time in public life in Reading, I've seen some pretty heart wrenching stuff – kids who are scared to bring homework home because their father can't read and doesn't want books in the house. What chance has a kid like that got?"

Children in Hampshire are amongst those who are current recipients of books from the Imagination Library, while other beneficiaries have lived in Blackbird Leys, Rose Hill, Berinsfield and Littlemore in Oxfordshire.

Colin Larkin, the founder and former editor of the Encyclopedia of Popular Music, who is from Poundbury, Dorset, said Parton's legacy as a performer is "remarkable".

He added: "She was the greatest country singer of all time. But beyond that she was an incredible icon. There's no dirt on her; there's no scandal. She had a marriage that lasted 60 years before her husband died last year.

"She had the persona of a dumb blonde – she was the absolute opposite of that. She was such a smart woman. She appealed to everybody - to women, in particular."

Her legacy will "unquestionably" continue, Larkin added.

"It's like The Beatles, an icon like that, that will go on and on."