The Farmville Public Library will host a special tribute celebration this Saturday to honor the legacy of country music legend Dolly Parton and her global literacy program.
The event runs from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM at the library on West Church Street. It celebrates Parton's Imagination Library, a book-gifting initiative that provides free monthly books to millions of children from birth to age 5. Attendees will receive 1 free book to take home, enjoy banana pudding, and participate in themed crafts. Guests are also encouraged to wear their favorite Dolly-inspired outfits.
Organizers note that North Carolina was the first state to adopt the program statewide, and local children's partnerships assure families that free book deliveries will continue seamlessly for generations to come.
Meanwhile, Parton is being remembered not only for her music, but for the way she used her fame and fortune to help people in times of crisis.
After Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina in 2024, Parton donated one million dollars to the Mountain Ways Foundation. Her businesses and the Dollywood Foundation matched that gift, bringing the total to two million dollars for relief and recovery in North Carolina and Tennessee.
Parton’s generosity to disaster survivors was part of a much longer legacy. She helped communities recover after the deadly wildfires in her native East Tennessee in 2016. And after Hurricane Florence devastated eastern North Carolina in 2018, she was among the many Americans whose generosity was invoked as the region faced a long recovery.
North Carolina Governor Josh Stein says Parton was “so special” and “so universally loved.” Stein says her legacy was not about celebrity, but about using her platform to make a difference in people’s lives.
Dolly Parton died Tuesday at the age of 80.
