Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library book giveaway program has spent the past three decades improving literacy by providing free books to kids throughout the country and the world. In a recent stop in Kasas City to promote her program, the 78-year-old country music legend shared a story about the inspiration behind her cause, her father, Robert Lee Parton, who died in 2000. “In the mountains, a lot of people never had a chance to go to school because they had to work on the farms,” Parton said. “They had to do whatever it took to keep the rest of the family going.”

She calls her father “one of the smartest people I’ve ever known,” but disclosed that he was embarrassed because he couldn’t read. Dolly started her book giveaway program in a single county in her home state of Tennessee back in 1995, and today over 3 million books are sent out each month, while reaching over 40 million kids worldwide since its formation. “The kids started calling me the ‘book lady,’” Parton said. “And Daddy was more proud of that than he was that I was a star. But Daddy got to feeling like he had really done something great as well.” (AP News)