Story thread · 2 reports / 2 sources

Opinion: Dolly Parton asked for books, not flowers — how Utah can fulfill that wish

deseret.com · 14dShare

Dolly Parton died last Tuesday . She was 80. Her family asked that instead of flowers, people give to her Imagination Library — the program she built in 1995 to mail a free book, every month, to any child under five. She started it in honor of her father, who never learned to read. Three hundred million books later, it’s the largest early-childhood literacy program in the world. It has never been fully available to the children of Utah. I want to change that, and I think this is the moment we do it. I’m a mom. I know what a stack of books does at the end of a long day — the way a kid who won’t sit still for anything will sit still for a story. I also represent Davis County, where a handful of good people have quietly been getting these books into homes for a couple of years already. Kara Toone at the Davis Education Foundation said our job now is “to finish what she started here.” That’s exactly how I feel. Opinion: Dolly Parton’s last request was simple. Utah can answer it But I’m not

First report: Dolly Parton’s greatest gift: Books for every child (Editorial Board Opinion) — syracuse.com, 16d