Impact of Dolly Parton's UK children's book scheme praised

The impact of Dolly Parton's children's literary scheme in the UK has been praised by a former MP who helped bring the charitable project to his constituency.

Tributes have been poured in for the country singer who has died aged 80. Her Imagination Library has had a presence across the south of England since it was launched in the UK in 2007.

Martin Salter, who was the MP for Reading West from 1997 until 2010, said he believed his constituency was the second place in the country to receive the books.

In the UK, seven million books have been sent to children, the Imagination Library says. It also operates in the US, Australia, Canada and Ireland, with 332.4 million books sent out globally.

Salter said the aim of the scheme was to put books in homes where "reading was not the norm" and that Parton would be remembered in part for her "generosity and philanthropy".

Her programme was first launched in the US in Sevier County, Tennessee, where the star grew up, and was inspired by her illiterate father.

Salter said it was a good tool in trying to normalise reading in homes where that might not have taken place otherwise.

He said: "In my time in public life in Reading, I've seen some pretty heart-wrenching stuff - kids who are scared to bring homework home because their father can't read and doesn't want books in the house.

"What chance has a kid like that got?"

Children in Hampshire are among those who are current recipients of books from the Imagination Library, while other beneficiaries have lived in Blackbird Leys, Rose Hill, Berinsfield and Littlemore in Oxfordshire.

Sally Smith is chief executive of Peeple - an organisation that helps parents and carers understand how babies and young children learn and develop - and has been running the Imagination Library in South Oxford for 12 years.

Almost 100,000 books have so far been given to children in the area, she says. And with the Dollywood Foundation's "strong legacy plans," Smith is confident "children will continue to receive those magical objects into their lives for many years to come".

Colin Larkin, founder and former editor of the Encyclopedia of Popular Music, who is from Poundbury, Dorset, said Parton's legacy as a performer was "remarkable".

He added: "She was the greatest country singer of all time. But beyond that she was an incredible icon.

"There's no dirt on her, there's no scandal. She had a marriage that lasted 60 years before her husband died last year.

"She had the persona of a dumb blonde – she was the absolute opposite of that. She was such a smart woman. She appealed to everybody - to women, in particular."

Her legacy would "unquestionably" continue, Larkin added.

"It's like The Beatles, an icon like that, that will go on and on."