We will always love you, Dolly!
The Big Apple celebrated the late singer and icon Friday for an official Dolly Parton Appreciation Day — and nearly 1,000 lucky kids will get books for a year in her honor.
Vanderbilt University announced it would donate a library’s worth of reading materials to the Manhattan kids as part of Parton’s enduring legacy and devotion to the next generation’s education.
Exactly 925 little Manhattanites will benefit from the book gifting program — a nod to the date and Parton’s iconic song, “9 to 5.”
“Dolly Parton was a national treasure. It didn’t matter who you were, a Democrat or a Republican, from a rural state, a red state, an urban area, a blue state, she was one of us. And she represented the best of our nation. So to honor her on this day, is so special,” said Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal.
“She’s a legend. One of the defining American icons.”
Hoylman-Sigal announced Dolly Parton Appreciation Day earlier this month, saying the Nashville native’s legacy spanned much further than her country roots and beyond her musical prowess.
Parton donated $1 million in 2020 to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for coronavirus research, which helped fund the early development of the Moderna vaccine.
She also ran a series of children-focused programs, including the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, which provides free monthly books to kids from birth until their fifth birthday in an effort to advance literacy.
She also wrote “Coat of Many Colors,” a children’s book about a young girl growing up poor — which city Public Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels read to dozens of kindergarteners in the new Hoffman Hall refectory to celebrate Dolly Day.
The lucky tots also took home a copy of “The Little Engine That Could” — the first book Parton gave the Imagination Library.
“We misthi8sDolly Parton Imagination Library.
Another 925 kids in Nashville will also benefit from Vanderbilt University’s donation — meaning 1,850 kids across the cities will each get 12 free books over one year.
“As we know, Dolly Parton was an icon, a legend, an artist, a poet. Dolly Parton had more Grammys, honorary degrees, and business ventures than just about anyone. And somehow still had fewer accomplishments than she had waves. Most importantly, she was someone who understood something simple, but profound, that a book placed in a child hand can change the whole shape of a life,” said Rep. Tony Simone.
Parton died Aug. 25 at age 80 in Nashville after a private battle with cancer.
