Celebrating a program “for all people,” country music icon Dolly Parton joined Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and First Lady Britainy Beshear to praise the availability of the Imagination Library throughout the state.
Parton’s Imagination Library Program, launched in 1995 to provide free books monthly to kids ages 5 and under, is available in every ZIP code in Kentucky as of earlier this year. To celebrate the program’s expansion, Parton joined the Beshears at the Lyric Theater in Lexington on Tuesday evening.
“The Imagination Library has meant as much, if not more, to me than nearly anything that I have done,” Parton said Tuesday.
After talking with the Beshears, Parton performed “Coat of Many Colors” — which turned into an a capella performance after technical difficulties — and “Try,” a song Parton said was inspired by the work of the Imagination Library.
Gov. Beshear presented a proclamation, marking the month as Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Kentucky Month, “to honor the great work your doing here,” he said.