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Dolly Parton's lasting legacy stretches far beyond her impact on country music.
The legendary artist passed away at 80 years old on Tuesday (August 25), sending fans worldwide into mourning and leading to heartfelt tributes remembering her spirit and honoring the impact she made throughout her decades-long career. In the wake her death, Elvis Duran & The Morning Show reshared a clip from a past interview with the "Jolene" singer where she detailed her biggest career accomplishment — and it wasn't her musical legacy.
In the video, Parton explained that her Imagination Library, a program that provides free books to children from the time they are born until they are 5 years old, is what she is "most proud of in her career." The program, inspired by her father's inability to read, launched in 1995 and originally focused on her home county in East Tennessee but has grown exponentially and has since expanded to five countries and gifted more than 300 million books to children.
"I wanted to do something special that dad could help me with, and so he really got involved with me to help and give me some good pointers and all of that," she said. "He got to live long enough to see it doing really well."
She continued, "[It teaches] children to learn to read, to love books, and more than anything, if they get that little book with their name on it in the mail, they're going to make somebody sit down and read. So it is my philosophy, my belief, that if you can read, you can educate yourself. If you can't afford to go to college or whatever, there's a book out there on anything and everything you want to know."
Parton died at 80 on Tuesday following a "brief battle" with cancer. Her family confirmed that the country music legend, actress and philanthropist had passed away, with her nephew Bryan Seaver sharing a message to her Instagram on behalf of the family as well as a tribute to the late icon honoring her legacy.
"A rhinestone life that shone bright enough for the world to see, Dolly will forever stand as an inspiration not only through her timeless music and prolific songwriting, but also her wit, warmth, and kindness that made us all feel like family," the post states. "Dolly Parton's legacy is one of love, compassion, and resilience."