08/25/2026
Dolly Parton, who died Tuesday at age 80, was many things over her 60-year professional career: singer, songwriter, actor, entrepreneur, philanthropist, cultural icon – and a tireless advocate for literacy. “Everywhere I go, the kids call me The Book Lady,” she said in a PBS interview. Parton’s Imagination Library has been sending books to children — one book a month until they turn five — since 1995. And on February 27, 2018, she came to Washington, D.C., to dedicate the 100 millionth Imagination Library book — a story she wrote, “Coat of Many Colors” — to the Library of Congress. (Watch and listen to the video of her appearance at https://www.loc.gov/item/2021687564?loclr=fbnls.) Imagination Library is still going strong; in 2023 it gifted its 200 millionth book.
Parton’s 1994 memoir, “Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business (DB39868),” is a definitive account of her life, from her impoverished childhood in East Tennessee to her rise to fame in Nashville and beyond. Parton also told her story in last year’s “Star of the Show: My Life on Stage (DB133565).” “Dolly on Dolly: Interviews and Encounters (DB92810)” collects interviews with Parton going back to 1967, when she was 21.
Parton discusses her passion for fashion in “Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones (DB117524),” and she and her sister share favorite recipes in “Good Lookin’ Cookin’ (DB127729).”
The NLS collection also has children’s books by Parton, including the autobiographical “Coat of Many Colors (DBC32781)” and “Dolly Parton’s Billy the Kid Makes It Big (DB114353),” about a bulldog with an ear for music.
“Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics (BR24608, DB102063)” is an annotated collection of lyrics from 175 of her songs. The NLS Music Collection has piano scores for “I Will Always Love You (DBM04628)” and “Hardcandy Christmas (DBM03726).” And Popular Music Lead Sheets, No. 132 (BRM37679) includes a braille score for “Jolene.”
Search the NLS catalog for many more books by and about Parton.
[Image: In a screenshot from a video of her appearance at the Library of Congress on February 27, 2018, Dolly Parton reads “Coat of Many Colors” to a group of children.]
