To make mistakes is to live

dolly parton made an art of beautiful contradictions: soft-hearted and sharp-minded, larger than life and entirely down to earth, dressed in rhinestones yet worth her weight in pure gold. she taught us that kindness needn’t be quiet, femininity needn’t be foolish, and a woman could write her own story—even if she had to do it nine to five. somewhere tonight, the stars are probably arguing over who gets to be the sequin on her sleeve. the mountains will miss their songbird. the rest of us will keep finding her in every pink sunrise, dog-eared book, and brave little dream that grew too big for the holler that held it.

Shortly after the success of The Buddy Program, Parton learned in dealing with teachers from the school district that problems in education often begin during first grade when kids are at different developmental levels. That year The Dollywood Foundation paid the salaries for additional teachers assistants in every first grade class for the next 2 years, under the agreement that if the program worked, the school system would effectively adopt and fund the program after the trial period.

During the same period, Parton founded the Imagination Library in 1995: The idea being that children from her rural hometown and low-income families often start school at a disadvantage and as a result, will be unfairly compared to their peers for the rest of their lives, effectively encouraging them not to pursue higher education. The objective of the Imagination library was that every child in Sevier County would receive one book, every month, mailed and addressed to the child, from the day they were born until the day they started kindergarten, 100% free of charge. What began as a hometown initiative now serves children in all 50 states, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, mailing thousands of free books to children around the world monthly.

On March 1, 2018 Parton donated her 100 millionth book at the Library of Congress: a copy of "Coat of Many Colors" dedicated to her father, who never learned to read or write.

req'd by @ladydanger420

dang dude so am i lemme into the tuna tank i can TAKE IT

Her name is Brie (Like the Cheese). Yes I got a professional photo shoot with my cat lmao

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submitted by @mirasdas

In a lifetime of amazing creations, this program has gifted over 330 million books to kids.

Contribute here in her honor: imaginationlibrary.com

"A spark bird is a term used by the birding community for the bird that hooks someone into their passion for birding."

If you have a story to share, even if it's quite small, please feel free to share with the Spark Bird Project!

Dr. Lodi-Smith was recently a seminar speaker in my department and had a wonderful talk about this project and the ways that finding joy in hobbies can impact self-perception and mental health across a lifetime. She really was a joy to have and this project is quite an interesting bridge between psychology and ornithology. I only felt it was right to share the link to her project with my bird themed audience lol.