Tasmanians are being asked to donate $9 today to help put a new book in the hands of a local child, as part of a global day honouring the late Dolly Parton.
Give Like Dolly Day falls on September 25, a date chosen as a nod to Parton’s hit song 9 to 5.
The Dollywood Foundation created the day as a new annual tradition to encourage people to support their local Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library programs.
Parton started the Imagination Library in 1995 in honour of her father, who could not read or write.
It has since gifted more than 330 million books across five countries.
In Tasmania, the local partner is Rosie’s Reading, a charity set up to bring the program here alongside United Way Australia.
The charity is named after founder Rick Marton’s mother Rosie, who surrounded him with books from birth despite her own struggles with reading.
Every $9 raised pays for another book to be posted to a Tasmanian child at no cost to the family.
Children enrolled in the program receive a new, age-appropriate book in the mail every month.
“Our vision is every child, not just some,” Marton said.
“We want all children starting school with their very own home library, big imaginations and strong foundations for learning.”
Its long-term goal is for all 28,000 Tasmanian children under five to receive a book each month, with families signed up before leaving the maternity ward.
That would mean around 336,000 books a year.
Rosie’s Reading says each book is read an average of 20 times, which would add up to more than six million shared reading moments in Tasmanian homes annually.
Parton died last month at the age of 80.
She performed to more than 20,000 people at Glenorchy’s KGV Oval alongside Kenny Rogers in 1987.
Tasmanians can take part by donating at rosiesreading.org.
