‘Dolly Day’ coming to Bellaire Public Library
Trending
BELLAIRE - Bellaire Public Library will be hosting "Dolly Day" in honor of Dolly Parton on Wednesday from 5-7 p.m.
Parton died on Aug. 25 at the age of 80. Her legacy spans way beyond her country music stardom.
She created Dolly Parton's Imagination Library 31 years ago. The program mails children one free book each month until their fifth birthday.
Any child from birth until 5 years old is eligible.
Youth service coordinator Sarah Galavich said that the program gives children literacy opportunities at a young age, despite their economic status or family situation.
"It gives them something constant coming in the mail to get them excited about reading and hopefully building a lifelong love of learning," Galavich said.
She added that Wednesday's event is a great way to honor Parton and the library is the perfect venue for the event.
"The event will celebrate her legacy of literature and music in celebrating the Imagination Library," Galavich said.
It will have Dolly karaoke, Name That Dolly Tune, a themed photo booth, Dolly Bingo and a Dolly trivia game.
The event will also have one of Parton's famous recipes called Cuppa Cuppa Cuppa, which is a snack that she made in the movie "Steel Magnolias."
Prizes will be awarded with the Parton-themed games, and a special story time reading of "The Coat of Many Colors" by Parton will be held at 5:30 p.m. for kids 3 to 6 years old.
"It’s no secret that Dolly Parton is such an icon in the music industry, and also for her philanthropic work, and her acts of kindness and love for everyone," Galavich said. "She wanted to make the world a better place, and she is a special person that made a lot of difference in many lives, especially in the literacy opportunities for children of all ages."
She added that Parton started the program because her dad didn’t know how to read, and she wanted to make sure that she was promoting literacy.
Galavich then referenced Parton's famous quote about how she wants to be remembered.
"If I’m remembered 100 years from now, I hope it will be not for looks, but for books," Parton said.
Galavich recently started working for the library over the summer, and Wednesday will mark her first all-ages event hosted in her position.
The new position is part of a massive remodeling project that the library is in the process of doing.
The library recently moved its children’s library from the basement and will be turning that area into the Innovation Center. The new center will include an esports space with computers, gaming and other activities for teens and young adults.
"We have a lot of really exciting stuff happening at the library right now. A few weeks ago, we just went through some renovations to move our children’s department upstairs to make room for our innovation center, where we’re going to be having a maker space in an esports arena, and we are in the process of building those spaces," Galavich said. "We’re wanting to have the library be a community hub and a space where kids and people of all ages can come to learn and have a safe place to go and be inspired to create."
She added that she hopes that the library can make the world a little bit of a better place.
"We’re working on the innovation center downstairs and looking to do this to try and encourage people to visit the library to learn that we’re a lot more than just books, that we have lots of our things to offer," Galavich said.
She added that the library will be hosting a special story time and craft with author Teri Lott this Saturday at 10 a.m.