Photo by Michael Patrick // Buy this photo
Dolly Parton autoghraphs the 25 millionth book just after she presented it to 4-year-old Kumar Stewart from Birminham, Ala., at Dollywood Friday, Jun. 11, 2010 as part of her initiative, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. The Imagination Library is a program which gives each child that participates a free book every month until the child turns 5-years-old.
Photo by Michael Patrick
Dolly Parton presented the 25 millionth book to a 4-year-old Kumar Stewart from Birminham, Ala., at Dollywood Friday, Jun. 11, 2010 as part of her initiative, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. The Imagination Library is a program which gives each child that participates a free book every month until the child turns 5-years-old.
PIGEON FORGE - Dolly Parton gave a small present with huge meaning this morning to 4-year-old Kumar Stewart of Birmingham, Ala..
The gift was the 25 millionth book given away through her Imagination Library program, which awards children a free book every month from birth until they reach the age of 5.
The Sevier County-born entertainer and philanthropist said education isn't confined to the walls of a classroom.
"A lot of kids don't get a chance to have a great education, but if you can learn to read, you can self-educate yourself," Parton said during the ceremony at Dollywood. "It's just important to me that I help the children in their most impressionable time."
Shalisha Stewart, Kumar's mother, said starting her children's education even before school gives them a chance to pursue whatever future they desire.
"It's important to start our children off when they're younger, so as they get older, they can educate themselves and go further than they've ever imagined," she said.
Kumar's older sister and younger brother are also Imagination Library participants back home in Alabama.
Imagination Library, which Parton started in 1996, provides free books for children in 1,200 counties in the United States, including all of Tennessee's 95 counties, and for tykes in Canada and the United Kingdom,
The Imagination Library celebration also coincides with the kickoff of Dollywood's KidsFest.
More details as they develop online and in Saturday's News Sentinel.
© 2010, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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