August 9 is now Dolly Parton Day in Ohio

COLUMBUS – August 9 is now Dolly Parton Day in Ohio, Governor Mike DeWine proclaimed on Monday.

Governor DeWine decided to honor the day to celebrate the success of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, which was created by the singer and businesswoman in 1995 in her home county of Sevier County, Tennessee. The program mails one free, age-appropriate book to children every month from birth to age 5.

Since 1995, the program has expanded throughout the United States and to four other countries. It has provided more than 184 million books to children across the world.

The Imagination Library expanded to Ohio in 2019, with financial support from the Ohio General Assembly and affiliates across the state. More than 327,000 kids in Ohio up to the age of five now receive a free book through the program each month. The program is is available in all of Ohio’s 88 counties and can be signed up for at ohioimaginationlibrary.org.

PHOTO CREDIT: Wikimedia Commons/Government Public Domain