The Dollywood Foundation was created in 1988 by Dolly Parton to inspire the children in her home county to achieve educational success.

More importantly, the program catalyzed the community to provide additional resources to sustain this improvement in the drop out rate.

Dolly’s home state of Tennessee pledged to pursue statewide coverage in 2004 and global expansion was on the horizon.

Local Program Partners can be businesses, school districts, small or large organizations, or simply individuals who share in the mission and purpose of the Imagination Library.

While the Imagination Library negotiates wholesale pricing for the books, the Local Affiliates and Partners are responsible for securing funds to cover that cost.

[5] Together, Dolly Parton and her book-gifting organization have received honors and awards for their dedication to enriching the lives of children everywhere.

With each goal achieved a new one takes its place, creating an ever-growing and expanding organizational culture, much like that of Dolly’s always-keep-dreaming mindset.

[9] Significant donors to the fund include Verizon, Tanger Outlets, Miley Cyrus’ Happy Hippie Foundation, CoreCivic and The Blalock Company.

Additional funds raised also provided one-time scholarships to high school seniors whose homes were lost to the fires.

[12] The Foundation offers five scholarships to the county’s high school seniors to help further their education at any accredited university.

[14] The Chasing Rainbows Award was created by the National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY) in Parton's name.

In the spring of 1992, the first class of graduating buddies each received their $500, with former Tennessee Governor and then U.S. Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander in attendance.

The Buddy Program caused the drop-out rate to go down to 6% and kick started her community into creating initiatives to keep kids in school.