Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, Murals Keep Legacy Alive

CENTRAL INDIANA — Singer and actress Dolly Parton touched millions through her music. However, Hoosiers also remember her for the books she put into children’s hands.

More than 150,000 Indiana children receive monthly books through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. The free program mails age-appropriate books to children from birth until their fifth birthday, regardless of family income.

Literacy leaders in central Indiana say Parton’s passing marks a heartbreaking day, but her work will outlive her. Kelly Wright directs the Imagination Library of Johnson County. She says Parton’s vision 30 years ago changed early education forever.

“She has done so much in her lifetime that her impact is the equivalent of multiple lifetimes,” Wright said in an interview with FOX 59. “Millions of children around the world are reading bedtime stories tonight because of this program.”

In Indianapolis, fans are also paying tribute through public art. Muralist Jules Muck painted a close-up portrait of Parton on the doors outside Bluebeard restaurant in Fletcher Place.

Muck has painted Parton roughly 25 times on canvases around the world. She says news of Parton’s death brought her to tears while walking through Sweden.

“She represents women not in a masculine way, but in a powerful feminine way that I find really inspiring,” Muck told FOX 59. “She’s a one-of-a-kind human being.”