Most people know the late Dolly Parton as a rhinestone-studded country singer, made famous for her household hits “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You.” But to 10-year-old Riverlyn Voorhees, she’s known first as the book lady.
“I didn't know until mom explained it after the book of '[The] Coat of Many Colors,'” Voorhees said. “She explained it, and then played a song and said she's a famous singer.”
Riverlyn was talking about Parton’s children’s book, "The Coat of Many Colors." It’s one of several books Riverlyn's family has in their collection, which they’ve received as part of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. They’re one of dozens of families in Bethel, and thousands more across the United States, who receive a free book in the mail each month.
“It's fun. We got a book today at the post office, and I read it to my sister,” Riverlyn said. “It was a dog book.”
It’s something Riverlyn said her family enjoys together, especially her youngest sister who is still learning how to read.
“She's like, 'Can you read it to me?' I'm like, 'okay,'” Riverlyn explained.
Last week, Riverlyn and her family attended a Bethel celebration for the woman behind the books.
The Kuskokwim Consortium Library’s "An Evening with Dolly Parton" event was a celebration of the late musician's glam, and a fundraiser for the Bethel chapter of her literary legacy.
Parton passed away in September at 80 years old. Libraries, movie theaters, and community centers across the U.S. celebrated her legacy on Sept. 25 by putting on 9-2-5 Day events, aptly named for Parton’s musical hit “9 to 5.”
In Bethel’s Yupiit Piciryarait Cultural Center, community members sported blond wigs and rhinestone-adorned cowboy hats. A huge screen projector displayed a singing Dolly Parton like a hologram in a continuous loop of sparkly music videos.
The event’s focal point was a long community table featuring a bring-your-own item bedazzling station. And it was popular — Bethelites bedazzled tote bags, life jackets, and t-shirts shoulder to shoulder. Fortunately, the table was stocked with blue, purple, and opal – Riverlyn’s favorite colors.
“I'm putting the bedazzled beads around my shirt,” Riverlyn explained, giving new life to an old garment. “It was once a Rumi costume for Halloween.”
Theresa Quiner, the library director, was decked out in a Dolly-inspired denim look.
“Dolly Parton is my hero,” Quiner said. “I mean, she is such an example, I think, of how a person with wealth can go through the world and do good with what they have.”
Bethel’s chapter of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library opened in 2020. The program covers most of the cost of the monthly book deliveries to local families, but the library, Bethel Community Services Foundation, and a grant from Anchorage-based non-profit Best Beginnings cover the rest.
In the six years since its founding, the program has been able to distribute thousands of books to kids in Bethel.
“The idea behind the program is that a lot of kids, especially in low-income and rural places, don't necessarily have, like, a home collection of books to read,” Quiner said. “And a lot of the foundations for reading are built by seeing books, seeing people reading, holding books, being read to.”
Quiner said that over 500 local kids have a home library through the program.
Dolly Parton's Imagination Library gives books to children up until the age of 5, around when kids start kindergarten. It aims to support families to build a strong foundation and a love of reading before their kids start school.
Parent Miaryna Molokopoy said that the books are always fun to read and age-specific for her daughter.
“She's just turned two, and we're taking part in Dolly's library, like, from the time she was born,” Molokopoy said from her seat at the bedazzling table. “So we started to receive books almost immediately, and it's always been, like, one of our favorite books.”
Her daughter, Eva, toddled around the cultural center. Her shirt was covered in jewel stickers she had stuck to herself.
“My kid is pretty much all-around bedazzled. If you see her t-shirt, my phone bedazzled, her water cup bedazzled,” Molokopoy remarked. “If you stay a little longer, you'll be bedazzled.”
Kids like Eva will likely grow up and get to know the Dolly Parton many of us know: the award winning singer-turned-movie star, with her own brand of sparkle and Southern charm.
But for the kids at the party, 9-2-5 Day was about celebrating the woman who sparked their love of reading.
“She's actually loving to read,” Molokopoy said. “That's her favorite activity, and I think Dolly's definitely been a part of it.”
The Kuskokwim Consortium Library is accepting donations for Bethel’s Dolly Parton's Imagination Library branch. Donations can be made to the Friends of the KuC Library Fund at the Bethel Community Services Foundation website. Families who live in Bethel and have a child under five can sign them up to receive free books in the mail at Dolly Parton's Imagination Library's website or by contacting the Kuskokwim Consortium Library.
