‘In walked this big bundle of energy’: the day Dolly Parton came to Rotherham
Country star came to South Yorkshire town in 2007 for UK launch of the Imagination Library, her book donation scheme
TL;DR
- Dolly Parton launched the UK branch of her Imagination Library in Rotherham in December 2007.
- The scheme provided every child in Rotherham with a free book each month until they were five.
- The initiative aimed to foster a reading culture in homes that lacked a background in reading.
- Parton related to Rotherham due to similarities with her own outsider upbringing.
- The scheme was initially met with skepticism but is credited with changing local culture.
- The Rotherham scheme concluded in 2015, but the Imagination Library has since been rolled out to other areas in Britain.
- Globally, over 300 million books have been distributed, with 6.3 million in the UK since 2007.