Do you remember a few years back when discussions were popular about the removal of confederate statues in the United States? One of the suggestions I saw quite often on Reddit was for them to be replaced by statues of Dolly Parton. Why? This wasn’t necessarily for “the memes”, but because outside of her creative endeavours, she runs some incredible social initiatives. One of these is the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, which seeks to spread the joy of reading to children across the world by providing a range of free age-appropriate books to children regardless of their families income. More than one million free books are sent out monthly worldwide!
Founded in 1995, this program has been associated with increased literary ability in many children able to access the program, and has expanded to many countries – including Australia which opened in 2013. Oh, and its American branch has a 100% score on Charity Advisor, with 98.64% of the expenses being dedicated to the program, and a mere 1.1% going towards administrative costs (as of FY 2019).
So why bring this charity up? After having to cancel its season very early on during the COVID-19 pandemic, Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5 the Musical is finally headed to the Sydney Capitol Theatre next year. Producers John Frost for Crossroads Live Australia and Suzanne Jones have announced they are partnering with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Australia to “bring the joy of reading to children in need across Australia”.
To raise the funds, they will be hosting a charity dress rehearsal on Sunday 13 February 2022 at 6.30pm, with the proceeds from 500 ticket sales going directly to the Imagination Library – in addition to other fundraising activities on the night. Tickets to the charity dress rehearsal will go for $69.90 AUD, and can be booked via TicketMaster. Seat selection is not possible, and you will be provided with your entry tickets with seat numbers (presumably randomly assigned) two weeks prior to the performance.
I am thrilled to announce that 9 TO 5 will be raising funds for a foundation I started 25 years ago and is very close to my heart, the Imagination Library. The program sends out over one million free books each month to children all around the world – I guess that’s why they call me the book lady!
Dolly Parton
We are thrilled to be collaborating with the Imagination Library as our chosen official charity partner for 9 TO 5. Dolly Parton herself established this charity initiative in the US as a tribute to her father who never learned to read. Her aim was to inspire all children to love to read, and we are looking forward to helping her accomplish that mission here in Australia.
Suzanne Jones – Producer of 9 to 5 the Musical Australia
