Dolly Parton is an American hero, and we will hear no slander against her. Her efforts to promote youth literacy through the Imagination Library, in collaboration with Ohio’s First Lady Fran DeWine, have helped thousands of Ohioans on their reading journey. Founded in 2019, the 501(c)(3) program has rolled out across all 88 counties in the state, delivering a year’s worth of books to families at no cost. To help support this mission, the Ohio bureau of motor vehicles is supporting the effort with new Dolly Parton license plates. Each plate’s $35 annual fee provides one family with a monthly book for a year.
The 79-year-old Tennessean singer-songwriter has worked to promote English language literacy since kicking off her library foundation in the mid-1980s. Over 100 million books have been sent to children on her behalf in the last 30 years, which feels like an incredible number. In addition to her literacy work she was instrumental in funding and rolling out the COVID vaccines and is a big proponent of LGBTQ rights.
I, for one, look forward to seeing Dolly’s smiling face looking back at me from the tailgates and rear bumpers of cars in traffic across Ohio. Each time I see one of these plates I will know that some young Ohioan is getting a book every month as a result, and that’s rad. It’s probably more effective to just donate your money directly to the Imagination Library, but license plates like this are helpful for raising awareness for a cause to the general public, so maybe do both. I have eight cars and four motorcycles, so maybe I should order up a dozen of these totally rad plates. What do you think?
Ohio is actually pretty cool? Always has been.
