Carrying Dolly Parton’s Legacy Forward in San Luis Obispo County

Today, we join people around the world in mourning the loss of Dolly Parton—a beloved artist, philanthropist, and extraordinary champion for children.

In 1995, Dolly Parton started mailing books to children in her home county to inspire children to love reading in honor of her dad, who couldn’t read or write.

In 2009, United Way of San Luis Obispo County brought Dolly’s mission home here on the Central Coast by launching the Imagination Library program. Every month, 1,635 children in San Luis Obispo County find a free, bilingual, new book in the mailbox — because of neighbors like you who fund it, and a woman from Sevier County, TN who started it all. To date, 55,279 books have been mailed to local kids!

Help us carry Dolly’s work forward

Dolly’s family has asked that, in lieu of flowers, people consider supporting the Imagination Library. We’re honored to help carry that request forward here in our community.

A gift to United Way of SLO County stays right here in our community and helps us enroll more local children in the Imagination Library. It costs just $8 per year to provide the books and postage for one child.

Whether you help enroll one child, several children, or simply spread the word, you can help carry Dolly’s legacy forward—one book and one child at a time.

Thank you, Dolly, for believing that every child deserves the chance to discover the magic of a book. ❤️