08/26/2026
We Will Always Love You Dolly!
By Cindy Tuttle, Executive Director, Stokes Partnership for Children
Our relationship with Dolly began in 2010. Her Imagination Library book-gifting program, which began in Tennessee in 1995, had been growing by leaps and bounds. Its popularity was spreading throughout North Carolina and was embraced by the Smart Start Network. We knew we wanted to give our children in Stokes County the opportunity to receive Dolly’s books. The only catch was, we did not have the funds to do so.
Determined, we decided to add a fundraiser to our already overstretched calendar. BBQ for Books came out of this idea, and that year we launched Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in Stokes County with proceeds from the event by becoming a Community Partner.
For those who may not know how it works, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library operates through a cost-sharing model between The Dollywood Foundation and thousands of local Community Partners, also called affiliates. The Dollywood Foundation manages the system database, selects high-quality books, negotiates wholesale pricing, and coordinates monthly mailings. Community Partners, like Stokes Partnership for Children, secure funding, market the program, and enroll local children.
To qualify for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in Stokes County, a child must be under the age of five and live in the county. Today, 1,386 children are enrolled in DPIL in Stokes County, and 3,319 have graduated from the program. Children are enrolled from communities all across the county.
When you become a Community Partner, you feel like you become a personal partner with Dolly. Her love for early literacy is felt in everything you do with the program, whether you are marketing it or enrolling a child. Dolly gave us an entire toolkit to help get the word out, always with messages written in her voice. She gave us a free e-newsletter program to help spread the word that free books are available to children in Stokes County. Dolly even invited us each year to a conference at Dollywood for Imagination Library Community Partners.
I had the pleasure of meeting Dolly in person in 2022 at Smart Start’s 25th Anniversary Celebration in Raleigh. She was just as wonderful in person as she was on television. I was surprised by how tiny she was—and by just how high those famous heels really were! That night, Dolly read one of her books to us and sang “Jolene.” It was an evening I will never forget.
Around 2017, we added a side of bluegrass to BBQ for Books as a nod to Dolly. How fitting! Once we did that, our fundraiser took off, and it is now our signature event—or “friend-raiser,” as we like to say. You see, everyone loves Dolly, and it was easy for folks to wrap their minds around the idea of raising funds for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. BBQ for Books with a Side of Bluegrass has grown so much that we can now use some of the proceeds not only for DPIL, but also for other underfunded early childhood programs.
We were grateful when the North Carolina General Assembly began funding Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in 2017. So many children had been enrolled that funding the program had become a stretch for us. For years, state funding helped us meet the demand for DPIL. However, last year those funds ran out. Because of proceeds from BBQ for Books with a Side of Bluegrass, no child in Stokes County was put on a waiting list. We were able to enroll them all in DPIL without delay!
We are grateful that our legislators recently approved a budget with additional funds for DPIL. However, we are still privately funding the children who were enrolled when state funding was no longer available.
In our lobby is a life-size cardboard replica of Dolly. We carry “Dolly” with us to many of our events, such as our Little Folks Festival and, of course, BBQ for Books with a Side of Bluegrass. But most days, “Dolly” just hangs out with us.
She greets children and families who come to see us. She startles delivery workers bringing packages and other visitors who don’t expect to see her standing there. They always laugh and smile, and many enjoy having their picture taken with her. We put a Santa hat on her during the holidays and celebrate her for being a cheerful part of our office team.
Dolly’s passing makes us incredibly sad, but I believe it will also strengthen the resolve of people around the world to continue the work she cared so deeply about. I know that here in Stokes County, we will.
Her passion for children and literacy, her extraordinary talent, her compassion for humanity, and her joyful spirit will live on in our hearts—and in every special book that arrives in a Stokes County child’s mailbox.
We will always love you, Dolly!
