Dolly Parton is sending free books to children across 21 states — and around the world

Dolly Parton's father grew up poor and never got the chance to learn to read.

Inspired by her upbringing, the 78-year-old country music legend has made it her mission over the past three decades to improve literacy through her Imagination Library book giveaway program. It has expanded statewide in places like Missouri and Kentucky, two of 21 states where all children under the age of 5 can enroll to have books mailed to their homes monthly.

To celebrate, she made stops Tuesday in both states to promote the program and tell the story of her father, Robert Lee Parton, who died in 2000.

“In the mountains, a lot of people never had a chance to go to school because they had to work on the farms,” she said at the Folly Theater in Kansas City, Missouri. “They had to do whatever it took to keep the rest of the family going.”

Parton, the fourth of 12 children from a poor Appalachian family, said her father was “one of the smartest people I’ve ever known,” but he was embarrassed that he couldn't read.

And so she decided to help other kids, initially rolling out the program in a single county in her home state of Tennessee in 1995. It spread quickly from there, and today over 3 million books are sent out each month. Since the program started, books have been sent to more than 240 million to kids in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia.

Missouri covers the full cost of the program, which totaled $11 million in the latest fiscal year. Most of the other states chip in money through a cost-sharing model.

“The kids started calling me the ‘book lady,’” Parton said. “And Daddy was more proud of that than he was that I was a star. But Daddy got to feeling like he had really done something great as well.”

In Kentucky, the Imagination Library reaches children in all 120 counties, Gov. Andy Beshear said at an event Tuesday with Parton. More than 120,000 Kentucky children — nearly half of all preschoolers in the state — are currently enrolled to receive books through the program, first lady Britainy Beshear said.

It encourages families to read together, and it allows children to have their own personal library before starting kindergarten, at no cost to their families, the first lady said.

“It’s really a great way to teach children when they’re very young to learn to love books and to learn to read,” Parton said during the event in Lexington, Kentucky.

Parton, who earned the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award a decade ago, said she eventually wants to see the program in every state. While there is a presence in all of them, 21 have legislation ensuring all kids under 5 can enroll. She said she is proud that her dad lived long enough to see the program get off the ground.

“That was kind of my way to honor my dad, because the Bible says to honor your father and mother,” she said. “And I don’t think that just means, ‘just obey.’ I think it means to bring honor to their name and to them.”

Parton is an author herself whose titles include the 1996 children's book “Coat of Many Colors,” which is part of the book giveaway program.

As she prepared to sing her famous song by the same name, she explained that it is about a coat her mother made her from a patchwork of mismatched fabric, since the family was too poor to afford a large piece of a single fabric. Parton was proud of it because her mother likened it the multicolored coat that is told about in the Bible — a fantastic gift from Jacob to his son Joseph.

Classmates, however, laughed at her. For years, she said the experience was a “deep, deep hurt.”

She said that with writing and performing the song, “the hurt just left me.” She received letters over the years from people saying it did the same thing for them.

“The fact,” she explained, “that that little song has just meant so much not only to me, but to so many other people for so many different reasons, makes it my favorite song.”

Asked in Kentucky about her lasting legacy, Parton said she'd like to be remembered as “a good ole girl” who worked hard and tried to make people happy and the world a better place.

“Of course I want to be known as a songwriter and a singer, but I honestly can say that the Imagination Library has meant as much, if not more, to me than nearly anything that I’ve ever done," she said.

Hollingsworth reported from Mission, Kansas. Schreiner reported from Frankfort, Kentucky.

Dolly Parton speaks to a audience gathered to celebrate the expansion of the Imagination Library of Kentucky at the Lyric Theatre in Lexington, Ky., Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. The library is now available to all 120 counties of Kentucky and provides free books to children up to the age of 5. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Dolly Parton speaks to a audience gathered to celebrate the expansion of the Imagination Library of Kentucky at the Lyric Theatre in Lexington, Ky., Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. The library is now available to all 120 counties of Kentucky and provides books to children up to the age of 5 free books. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Dolly Parton, left, speaks with Brittany Beshear, center, and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear to celebrate the expansion of the Imagination Library of Kentucky at the Lyric Theatre in Lexington, Ky., Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. The library is now available to all 120 counties of Kentucky and provides books to children up to the age of 5 free books. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Dolly Parton speaks to a audience gathered o celebrate the expansion of the Imagination Library of Kentucky at the Lyric Theatre in Lexington, Ky., Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. The library is now available to all 120 counties of Kentucky and provides books to children up to the age of 5 free books. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Dolly Parton address attendees at an event celebrating the Missouri statewide expansion of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Dolly Parton performs during an event celebrating the Missouri statewide expansion of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Dolly Parton addresses attendees at an event celebrating the Missouri statewide expansion of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Dolly Parton performs during an event celebrating the Missouri statewide expansion of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library ,Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Dolly Parton performs during an event celebrating the Missouri statewide expansion of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Dolly Parton addresses attendees at an event celebrating the Missouri statewide expansion of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Dolly Parton performs during an event celebrating the Missouri statewide expansion of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Residents of the Carrollton neighborhood in New Orleans are among thousands who remained without power Friday after Hurricane Francine passed through. Their frustration mounted as the city’s electrical provider, Entergy, sent out notifications informing some people their power had been “restored” even though they still had no electricity.

“Every single storm, every one, no matter how big or how small, the same thing happens,” said Rudy Cerone, 71, referring to the power outages. “Entergy just doesn’t seem to take the necessary preparatory actions to harden this system to provide the power that we’re paying through the nose for.”

An Entergy New Orleans spokesperson said the city had restored power to more than 40,000 customers since Thursday and that many more would regain electricity by the end of the day Friday. Around 6,500 Entergy customers in the city lacked power as of Friday afternoon, part of about 95,000 customers in Louisiana still without electricity, according to the tracking site poweroutage.us.

The spokesperson also said the information used to update outage numbers comes from crews in the field.

“These steps take time, and our teams are committed to providing customers with the latest restoration information as it is available,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said electricity is the major issue facing the state since Francine rolled through.

“The biggest challenge we have had in this storm is utilities – trying to get the power back on,” Landry said at a news conference Friday afternoon.

Prior to Francine making landfall, utility crews were pre-positioned in areas that would likely be impacted by power outages, Landry said.

“The speed under which they’re putting those utilities online comes from the fact that prior storms have given us an opportunity to build grid resilience,” he said.

Another Carrollton resident, Alexandra Canary, 73, said she left to stay with her son in another part of the city where power had returned and she could sleep with the comfort of air conditioning. But she was annoyed at the inconveniences of the power outage, like having to throw away all the perishable food items in her refrigerator, and the stuffy heat of her own home.

“It’s not pleasant, I’ll survive it, but it just seems unbelievable that their system is not working,” she said.

Davante Lewis, an elected member of the state Public Service Commission that regulates utilities, did a ride along on Thursday with Entergy to assess the damage. He said much of it was broken branches and trees — likely weakened by recent drought conditions in the state — on power lines.

“I think what we are seeing right now is a lot of vegetation issues and we just don’t have enough hands to move it (debris) that fast or enough hours in the day to safely do so in sunlight,” Lewis said.

Utility crews from Oklahoma, Florida, Texas and elsewhere are working to restore power, Lewis said, with projections for full restoration by Sunday.

“Any amount of time without power in Louisiana, especially for vulnerable communities, is too long,” Lewis said. “But we have seen restoration times a lot shorter than some of the earlier predictions and we are faring better.”

The storm, which drew fuel from exceedingly warm Gulf of Mexico waters, came ashore Wednesday in Louisiana with 100 mph (160 kph) winds and drenched a large swath of the South, including parts of Arkansas and Florida. Forecasters expected Francine to weaken Friday as it crossed northern Arkansas, but the storm's slow progress will mean days of heavy rain in the Southeast, creating a flash flooding risk.

Another 3 to 6 inches (8 to 15 centimeters), with about 8 inches (20 centimeters) in some locations, were expected in parts of central and northern Alabama through Sunday. In northeastern Mississippi, western Tennessee, western Georgia and the Florida Panhandle, another 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 centimeters) was expected.

No deaths or serious injuries have been reported in Francine's aftermath.

Rushing water nearly enveloped a pickup truck in a New Orleans underpass, trapping the driver inside. A 39-year-old emergency room nurse who lived nearby waded into the waist-high water with a hammer, smashed the window and pulled out the driver. The rescue was captured live by WDSU-TV.

“It’s just second nature I guess, being a nurse, you just go in and get it done, right?” Miles Crawford told The Associated Press on Thursday. “I just had to get to get him out of there.”

In the coastal community of Cocodrie in southern Louisiana, where many families own seasonal homes along the bayou for fishing, police guarded a road to prevent looting as people cleaned their properties.

Brooks Pellegrin, 50, and his family cleared muck out of their campsite, a two-story structure with a large dock on a canal about 14 miles (22 kilometers) from the Gulf of Mexico. They worked well into Thursday afternoon raking marsh grass and spraying down muddy floors after a 10-foot (3-meter) storm surge washed away the building’s back wall, porch and much of the boat deck.

“We built everything up so we wouldn’t have to do this. This one brought in a lot more water than Ida,” Pellegrin said. “It packed a lot more punch than I was expecting.”

For many in the area bordered by bayous, swamps, lakes and the Gulf of Mexico, threats of flooding and hurricanes have become a way of life, Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre said.

Water comprises about a quarter of the area in the parish, which is home to about 97,000 people south of New Orleans. In 2021, Ida made landfall in the southern point of the parish as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph (241 kph).

That storm was “cataclysmic” and “the most significant hurricane” to impact the area. Following the 2021 storm, 90% of homes in the area needed a roof replacement and many houses were damaged beyond repair, Webre said.

Over the years, the area has become more resilient against storms, improving drainage and pumping stations and replacing roofs that can better withstand hurricane-force winds. Residents re also evacuating more quickly when there are significant storm threats, Webre said.

“This population is very resilient. They’re very independent. They’re very pioneering,” he said.

Cline reported from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Associated Press writers Kevin McGill in New Orleans and Curt Anderson in St. Petersburg, Florida, contributed to this story.

Alexis Dibuono stands in her hallway as she takes in the salvage work that needs to be done to her flood damaged home, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Norco, La., two days after Hurricane Francine swept through the area. (Chris Granger/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)

An egret forages next to the flooded on-ramp to Interstate 10 in Laplace, La., Friday, Sept. 13, 2024 , two days after Hurricane Francine swept through the area. (Chris Granger/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)

Gavin Hinchman with Precision One Construction Group carefully steps around water-damaged doors and walls as he guts part of a flooded home in Norco, La., on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, two days after Hurricane Francine swept through the area. (Chris Granger/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)

Cars drive off of Interstate 10 in Laplace, La., on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, as floodwater still covers the roadway two days after Hurricane Francine swept through the area. (Chris Granger/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)

Debra Matherne describes her experience as she rode out Hurricane Francine the previous night, along Bayou Pointe-au-Chien, La., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Natalie Bergeron, a letter carrier who has been delivering mail on this route for 43 years, helps a customer clean up debris who took damage from Hurricane Francine, in Cocodrie, La., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Kelsie Schmidt, right, walks a board to a debris pile from her family's home after floodwater came up a few inches in the house making most of the walls, floors, and doors wet after Hurricane Francine in Kenner, La., in Jefferson Parish, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)

Flooding along Whitney Street in the Shoreline Park neighborhood in Hancock County, Miss., after Hurricane Francine on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (Hannah Ruhoff/The Sun Herald via AP)

John Finney and his son Gabriel, 2, using gloves a little too big for him, clean up debris after Hurricane Francine near their home in Kenner, La., in Jefferson Parish, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)

Louisiana National Guard Maj. Gen. Thomas C. Friloux, right, leads Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and Louisiana State Police Col Robert P. Hodges to a helicopter for an aerial tour of damage from Hurricane Francine, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in Baton Rouge, La., (Hilary Scheinuk/The Advocate via AP)

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry speaks during a news conference, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in Baton Rouge, La., regarding the impact of Hurricane Francine on the state of Louisiana. (Hilary Scheinuk/The Advocate via AP)

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell speaks during a news conference, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in Baton Rouge, La., regarding the impact of Hurricane Francine on the state of Louisiana. (Hilary Scheinuk/The Advocate via AP)

Flooding along Whitney Street in the Shoreline Park neighborhood in Hancock County, Miss., after Hurricane Francine on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (Hannah Ruhoff/The Sun Herald via AP)

Debra Matherne describes her experience as she rode out Hurricane Francine the previous night, along Bayou Pointe-au-Chien, La., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

A man walks through floodwaters along Tigris Street in Shoreline Park in Hancock County, Miss., after Hurricane Francine on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (Hannah Ruhoff/The Sun Herald via AP)

Bailee Boudreaux, 14, center, and her family bring out the chickens they let sleep in their house during the height of Hurricane Francine in Houma, La., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (Chris Granger/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)

Bailee Boudreaux, 14, center, and her sister, Brylee, 7, back right, check on the chickens they let sleep in their house during the height of Hurricane Francine in Terrebonne Parish, La., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (Chris Granger/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)

Shawn Murphy removes drywall at a friend's house after floodwater came up a few inches in the house making most of the walls, floors, and doors wet after Hurricane Francine in Kenner, La., in Jefferson Parish, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)

Little Caillou Fire Department staff take initial surveys of the damage from Hurricane Francine at the end of Highway 57 in the southern most point of Terrebonne Parish, La., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (Chris Granger/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)

City of Tallahassee, Florida utility crews help straighten a utility pole s damaged by Hurricane Francine Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in downtown Houma, La. (Chris Granger/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)

Jansen Pellegrin, back right, and Drew Foret, right, remove a small tree that floated into a living room area at their fishing camp from Hurricane Francine in Terrebonne Parish, La., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (Chris Granger/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)

Allen McCoy helps clean out his family's camp, which took on a storm surge, in the aftermath of Hurricane Francine, in Cocodrie, La., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Jansen Pellegrin, right, rakes away marsh grass that floated into a living room area at his family's fishing camp from Hurricane Francine in Terrebonne Parish, La., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (Chris Granger/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)

Tombs are seen after being disturbed by flooding, in the aftermath of Hurricane Francine, in Dulac, La., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Tombs are seen after being disturbed by flooding, in the aftermath of Hurricane Francine, in Dulac, La., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Lori-Ann Bergeron checks on the graves of her sister and mother to see that they were not disturbed by flooding, in the aftermath of Hurricane Francine, in Dulac, La., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)