Posted August 27, 2026
On Tuesday, August 25, Governor Polis honored the life and legacy of American Country music and pop culture icon and philanthropist Dolly Parton, who passed away at the age of 80. Governor Polis ordered that flags across the state shall fly at half-staff until sunset on September 1st.
Colorado’s partnership with Dolly Parton Imagination Library has helped put over 3.5 million books in the hands of Colorado children.
“Dolly Parton’s music, songwriting, passion for early childhood literacy, and incomparable musical career inspires millions of Coloradans. As a state, we are mourning the loss of her creativity, sparkling love for life, and musical talent. Dolly Parton is a national treasure. Therefore, I order flags to fly at half-staff on the day of her memorial once selected to honor her life, career, and incredible legacy of giving back to our community,” said Governor Polis.
Dolly’s passing is an enormous loss, but the mission she created is very much alive.”
Since launching in 1995, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has become the preeminent early childhood book-gifting program in the world. The flagship program of The Dollywood Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, has gifted nearly 200 million free books in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and The Republic of Ireland. The Imagination Library mails more than 2 million high-quality, age-appropriate books each month to enrolled children from birth to age five. Dolly envisioned creating a lifelong love of reading and inspiring children to dream more, learn more, care more and be more.
The impact of the program has been widely researched and results suggest positive increases in key early childhood literacy metrics. Penguin Random House is the exclusive publisher for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
“Today we mourn an extraordinary woman who changed the world in more ways than most people will ever know. Dolly Parton brought joy to millions through her music, but she also believed deeply that every child, regardless of where they were born or how much money their family had, deserved the opportunity to grow up surrounded by books.
The Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Colorado issued a statement on Tuesday:
“That belief became Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. What began in her home county in Tennessee grew into an international movement reaching millions of children and families.
“Here in Colorado, we have had the privilege of carrying Dolly’s vision forward through Imagination Library of Colorado and our local partners across the state. We see every day what happens when a child receives a book addressed personally to them in the mail — and begins to believe that books, reading and learning belong to them.
“Dolly’s passing is an enormous loss, but the mission she created is very much alive. The organization, partnerships and people she inspired will continue this work. Colorado children will continue receiving books, and we intend to make sure that generations of children who never had the opportunity to know Dolly personally will nevertheless know what she believed in.
“There may be no better way to honor Dolly Parton than to keep putting books into the hands of children. That work continues.”
To learn more about Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in Colorado visit, https://www.imaginationlibrarycolorado.org.
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