More than 8,000 Montgomery County children have received free books through Dolly Parton's Imagination Library since 2015. Program leaders say the literacy effort will outlive the country music singer, who died Tuesday, Aug. 25, at age 80.

The Montgomery County affiliate has distributed more than 180,000 books to young readers, according to program director Carol Da Silva. Enrollment jumped 25% in the past year, a surge Da Silva attributed to the addition of bilingual English-Spanish books in 2023, The Banner reported.

The program mails one free, age-appropriate book per month to each registered child from birth until age 5. Local community partners fund the books and delivery, while the Dollywood Foundation covers administration and book selection.

At Wheaton Woods Elementary School in Rockville, a Title I school, the PTA has run its own Imagination Library affiliate for about six years. That effort has put books in the hands of 315 children. Helen Winder, the affiliate's lead volunteer, told The Banner that "the positive impacts on foundational literacy skills, as well as social and emotional skills, are critical for young readers in our community."

Nationally, one in six children under age 5 receives books through the program. It has distributed more than 332 million books worldwide since Parton founded it in 1995 in Sevier County, Tennessee, according to USA Today. Maryland has 21 affiliates.

Parton once described what the monthly delivery means to children. "We send the book in the mail with their name on it. It's not in the care of Mom and Dad … it's got their little name on it, and they love to think, 'This is mine,'" she said in a 2018 conversation with Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, as quoted by the Los Angeles Times.

Gov. Wes Moore said in a statement on Aug. 25 that Parton used her success to help others, citing her disaster relief work and efforts to promote early literacy through programs like the Imagination Library.

The program will continue. Dollywood Foundation president Jeff Conyers told the Los Angeles Times on Aug. 26 that Parton "built things that could keep doing good in the world."

Parton's family asked for donations to the Imagination Library in lieu of flowers.