Dolly Parton's Book-Giving Charity: You Can Read a Lot Into It

· Addressing the area's dropout rate with a program that promised seventh- and eighth-graders a $500 check upon high school graduation if they stayed in school and did everything they could to encourage a classmate to also stay.

· Donating $100,000 in 1997 for a birthing unit at the local hospital so residents wouldn't have to drive to Knoxville to deliver their babies.

· Providing funds to schools for computers, teacher's assistants and supplies.

· Opening the Dollywood amusement park in 1986, which, as the state's top tourist attraction, employs 2,200 and bolsters the local tax base.

But the Imagination Library is clearly a highlight for her. One recent morning at her office, impeccably dressed in a yellow jacket, bright multicolored skirt and red heels, Parton perked up as she spoke of it, her twangy voice breaking into a fast pitter-patter.

"They call me the Book Lady. That's what the little kids say when they get their books in the mail. They think I bring them and put them in the mailbox myself, like Peter Rabbit or something," she said, laughing.

Where she grew up in tiny Locust Ridge, children's books and education were luxuries.

"My mother was married when she was in the seventh grade, so a lot of my people didn't get a chance to get an education," she said. "Imagination Library was really born out of my need to try to help people knowing what a handicap it was with a lot of my relatives.