How Dolly Parton became an unlikely literary hero for West Vic

More than 60,000 books have been delivered to the kids of Glenelg Shire, for free, over the last 13 years. And the source of this massive donation might come as a surprise to West Vic residents: American singer/songwriter Dolly Parton. 

What happened: The Dolly Parton Imagination Library (DPIL) has been partnering with United Way Glenelg and Alcoa for more than a decade to deliver books to families and kids each month. Globally, DPIL has provided more than 300 million books. In Australia alone, 30,000 are dispersed every month. 

🗣️: “Wherever I go, I get parents and grandparents coming up to me and saying it’s so good to get a book in the mail every month for their child.” United Way Glenelg executive officer Nicole Carr told the Brolga. 

What’s DPIL? Carr said the books are age-specific and predominantly sourced from Australian authors. 

Embracing the DPIL initiative in the west became an obvious decision for Carr when she was trying to think of a way to forge deeper connections with the community and make a difference in the very early days of childhood. 

🗣️: “We looked at school readiness rates, and felt that we could use an early literacy program.” 

✒️ Pen is mightier: Carr told the Brolga the positive impact of reading goes far. 

• “From birth we should be reading and creating,” Carr said. “It’s bonding, as well as the listening skills and concentration skills and oral language. All of those things come from reading.” 

• “With technology, or both parents working, we forget to read. The book in the mail is a really good prompt. The child will often see the book and say read it to me.” 

A study by Macquarie University PhD candidate Claire Galea looked at 343 families receiving books through DPIL in the New South Wales town of Tamworth. The results showed that reading to a child four times a week, for as little as 10 minutes, means they are more likely to show increased literacy skills when they enter school. 

Islands in the Stream: Carr said Parton’s name opens a lot of partnership doors for the initiative. 

🗣️: “Initially, I wasn’t a massive country listener. Obviously Dolly has grown on me significantly and in 2014 I had a chance to meet her and to say thank you on behalf of our community.”

Next chapter: The program remains robust and thriving in West Vic. Carr told the Brolga they recently celebrated their 1000th high school graduate that was part of the program as a child. 

A local mother has been sending photos of her son reading the monthly deliveries since infancy. He’s now three years old with a little sister, who he now reads to as well.