The Dollywood Foundation, home of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, has announced September 25 (aka “9-to-5 day”) will be Give Like Dolly Day, a global day dedicated to supporting local Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Programs (DPIL) and honoring Dolly’s extraordinary legacy of inspiring children to dream big and develop a lifelong love of reading.

Give Like Dolly Day will shine a spotlight on local DPIL Partners and encourage communities to rally around them and other organizations helping children where they live.

Locally, 16,000 children in Onondaga County receive a free book every month through Onondaga County’s DPIL through the Literacy Coalition of Onondaga County (LCOC).

Rich Gasiorowski, Director of the LCOC said, “On 9/25, Give Like Dolly Day, donors can help our Dolly Parton Imagination Library reach even more children and families; every gift to the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, through the Literacy Coalition of Onondaga County, helps us continue building a community where children can grow up surrounded by the joy of books and reading.”

Donations can be made here. 

A few facts about DPIL: 

• Dolly Parton founded the Imagination Library in 1995 in honor of her father, who could not read or write. What began in her home county in East Tennessee has grown into the largest, early childhood book-gifting program in the world, serving children and families through these local partnerships in five countries.
  • Each month, the DPIL mails over 3 million high-quality, age-appropriate books directly to children’s homes. Every enrolled child receives one book per month from birth to age five, at no cost to families.
• Onondaga County’s DPIL began in 2010; it is the largest DPIL program in New York State.
  • Onondaga County’s DPIL celebrated its 2 millionth book delivery in June 2026.
  • A 2016 study of Onondaga County’s DPIL found that children who consistently took part were better prepared to enter kindergarten than their non-participating peers by a factor of nearly 30%.