Comment by JeremyNT
12 hours ago
Really glad to see this as the top comment.
Parton did a lot of very nice things and was a great contributor to society in good and decent ways that many of her wealth peers totally fail.
But there has since her passing been an element of myth and folklore that has elevated those accomplishments beyond reality.
Her library is a great idea and her support was notable, but the funding in large part comes from government grants and other donors.
To a large degree, the library program is also your tax dollars at work.
Funding is easy to get once you have an impressive and demonstrably good program. But without Dolly's work (and yes, the work of people she brought on to carry out her vision), none of this program would currently exist.
Money is fuel, but it needs an engine. Dolly designed and built the engine.
All of the books I’ve received through this program have been paid for by the local library and other city funds.
I can also walk into the library and there will be a shelf of free childrens books. Not used, brand new. Stacks of them to take home and keep.
The engine already existed, our public library system.
The intention of this program was to get books in the hands of children, who might not have access to a public library. The books were kept free in order to combat the shame often associated with not being able to afford books for your kids. These two services might be catering to two separate (though sometimes overlapping) audiences.
> The engine already existed, our public library system
How good one's library is depends on how well-off the operating local government is. The Imagination Library is more egalitarian because it's often funded at county and state-level, so kids with underfunded libraries get the same level of access as other kids from wealthier zip codes
Perhaps you can expand on why you think that is a bad idea.
I don't! I think it was a great idea. But I think people commonly misunderstand the way the program operates, assuming Parton herself was funding it, and I'm glad somebody highlighted its structure.