It was Dolly Parton's proudest legacy. Now an Australian town must keep it alive

In the regional city of Tamworth, more than 3,000 children are reading more books because of Dolly Parton — a mark of Australia's connection to the legendary country singer, actor and philanthropist that runs deeper than one might initially think.

Parton died on Wednesday morning at 80. Tributes have poured in from around the world, but in the regional NSW town of Tamworth, the loss is more personal.

The city, dubbed the country music capital of Australia, holds an official sister-city bond with Parton's adopted hometown of Nashville and hosted Parton herself on her last Australian tour in 2014.

"It's an incredible nod to us that she would come here when most stars are looking for the big 70,000-seater auditoriums, whereas ours is 5,000 seats," Cheryl Brown, from the Tamworth Country Music Festival, told SBS News.

"So for her to come here, she certainly validated us as the country music capital and that saw us being an important part of country music here in Australia."

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But it's her gift of the Imagination Library program, one of Parton's most personal philanthropic projects, that has really transformed Tamworth.

Founded in 1995 as a tribute to her illiterate father, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is a free book-gifting program — now running across the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, and Australia — that mails new, age-appropriate books to children from birth until they turn 5, completely free of charge.

It has gifted more than 300 million books to children since it started 31 years ago. In Australia, more than two million of those books have been delivered to 151,000 children across 480 communities since its launch here in 2013.

In Tamworth, where the program has run since 2019, its ambassador Lisa Rennie says it has fundamentally changed how children relate to reading and literacy.

"Children from birth to the age of five are eligible to receive the books, which are chosen by qualified speech pathologists and early literacy teachers," Rennie told SBS News.

"There are currently about 3,500 children on average on the program in the Tamworth region."

Since 2019, more than 98 per cent of children born in Tamworth have been enrolled.

Families sign up at no cost, ensuring accessibility for those experiencing disadvantage — books are posted to each home each month, and caregivers are also given reading guidance sheets to help foster lifelong reading in families.