Dolly Parton, the country music icon who died on August 25, 2026, at age 80, spent her career giving back to the state that raised her. Born in Pittman Center, Tennessee, one of twelve children in a poor family, she often credited her father, who never learned to read or write, as the reason she launched the Imagination Library, mailing free books to children every month from birth through kindergarten. She never stopped calling Tennessee home, even as her music, movies, and Dollywood theme park made her a global icon.

Tennessee has a chance to make sure her legacy stays visible to the next generation of kids growing up the way she did. The Tennessee Governor and General Assembly should officially designate an annual Dolly Parton Children's Literacy Day, a statewide day dedicated to celebrating reading, honoring her father's story, and encouraging schools, libraries, and families across the state to get a free book into a child's hands.

Tennessee already claims Dolly Parton as its own. Now it should make sure her decades of work turning her father's hardship into millions of children's love of reading gets a permanent place on the state calendar, not just a moment of mourning.

Sign the petition to ask Tennessee's Governor and General Assembly to create Dolly Parton Children's Literacy Day, so her legacy keeps putting books in kids' hands for years to come.