{"id":28425,"date":"2025-07-24T16:14:37","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T20:14:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/?p=28425"},"modified":"2025-07-24T16:20:47","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T20:20:47","slug":"dolly-day-events-to-raise-funds-spread-awareness-about-dolly-partons-free-book-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/2025\/07\/dolly-day-events-to-raise-funds-spread-awareness-about-dolly-partons-free-book-program\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Dolly Day\u2019 events to raise funds, spread awareness about Dolly Parton\u2019s free book program"},"content":{"rendered":"
Marshall University\u2019s June Harless Center is partnering to host a series of activities in August to raise funds and awareness about the Dolly Parton Imagination Library program, which provides free books monthly to children up to the age of 5.<\/p>\n

Saturday, Aug. 9, is Dolly Parton\u2019s Imagination Library Day in West Virginia, as proclaimed by former Gov. Jim Justice in 2022. Since then, the state has hosted a\u00a0week-long celebration annually, including Dolly Read Aloud Week events that feature a selected Imagination Library book for families and children to enjoy and foster a love of reading.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are building a brighter future for our children through early literacy,\u201d said Jamie Lima, state director of Dolly Parton\u2019s Imagination Library program. \u201cDolly Week is a way to promote awareness statewide and raise funds for Dolly Parton\u2019s Imagination Library program, which has such depth and positive impact with measured results after nearly two decades in West Virginia.\u201d<\/p>\n

The week culminates with the Dolly Dash 5K Race for Reading, the largest annual fundraiser for Dolly Parton\u2019s Imagination Library of WV, held on the Saturday during Dolly Week at Ritter Park in Huntington.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the week, Marshall University\u2019s June Harless Center will host a read aloud event at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 5, at the Memorial Fountain on Marshall\u2019s campus. This event is open to the public. Children who attend will receive a free book and will be able to participate in a variety of fun, kid-friendly activities.<\/p>\n

At the event, Marshall Head Volleyball Coach Heather Stout will read this year\u2019s book selection, \u201cCorduroy\u201d by Don Freeman. Also, children can enjoy a sweet treat from the Kona Ice truck, and community partners will be on-site to share resources and engage with families.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlus, there will be a fun photo opportunity with our life-sized Dolly Parton cut out \u2014perfect for capturing a memorable moment from this joyful celebration of reading and community,\u201d Lima said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a program worth celebrating, she said. Dolly Parton\u2019s Imagination Library (DPIL) is helping schools welcome better prepared kindergarteners. DPIL graduates outperform their peers in third-grade testing by up to 29%, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe positive emotional and behavioral foundation forged from just reading aloud with a child 15 minutes per day from birth ignites the formation of the brain\u2019s white matter linked to lifetime learning and success,\u201d Lima said. \u201cAs Dolly says, we can never get enough books into the hands of enough children.\u201d<\/p>\n

Getting involved:<\/p>\n

\u00b7 Families outside of the Marshall community can check for local read aloud events during Dolly Week here: www.DollyBooksWV.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00b7 This year\u2019s 3rd annual Dolly Dash 5K Race for Reading is schedule for Saturday, Aug. 9 at Ritter Park. The race will officially begin at 9:25 a.m., and participants are invited to arrive early to enter the Best Dressed Dolly competition (adult, child, and \u201cdoggy parton\u201d categories) and participate in family-friendly activities provided by the Marshall University June Harless Center, Dave and Buster\u2019s, Texas Roadhouse, and more. Race info is available at tristateracer.com\/dollydash2025<\/a>.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marshall University\u2019s June Harless Center is partnering to host a series of activities in August to raise funds and awareness about the Dolly Parton Imagination Library program, which provides free books monthly to children up to the age of 5. Saturday, Aug. 9, is Dolly Parton\u2019s Imagination Library Day in West Virginia, as proclaimed by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":239,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-releases"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/239"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28425"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28426,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28425\/revisions\/28426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}