Flags at half staff in Colorado to honor Dolly Parton's legacy that lives on in books

Flags are flying at half-staff at the Colorado State Capitol in honor of country music legend Dolly Parton. Her family says she died Tuesday after a brief battle with cancer. She was 80 years old.

Gov. Jared Polis is among the millions of people who were touched by her music. 

"She is really an American treasure... Just a treasure and somebody who inspires so many with love and positivity, and that's exactly what we need not just now, but all the time," said Polis. 

Parton was a larger-than-life personality who was known for her glitzy costumes, voluptuous figure, and bouffant hairstyle.

She rose from poverty to become an international celebrity, writing 3,000 songs over her 60-year career, 25 of which reached number one on the Billboard charts. Parton was inducted into both the country music and rock and roll halls of fame, starred in several Hollywood movies, and opened her own theme park called Dollywood.

But for all she accomplished in life, Parton said she was most proud of a program called Imagination Library, which provided free books to kids across the country. She started it in honor of her dad, who she says never learned to read and write. 

"There are few things that cost as little and do more than Dolly Parton's Imagination Library," state Sen. Jeff Bridges told CBS Colorado.  

Bridges, a Democrat representing Colorado's 26th District and former state Sen. Jack Tate, a Republican who represented Colorado's 27th District, helped bring Parton's Imagination Library to all Colorado kids in 2021.

Under their bill, every kid in the state from birth to age five receives a book every month. The Imagination Library picks the books and mails them while the state and non-profits in Colorado split the cost - about $1.6 million a year.

The books are available to all children regardless of income. A total of 90,000 Colorado kids, including Bridges' son Kit, will receive books this year alone.

"When a book arrives in the mail, kids make you read that book," says Bridges. "This builds connections within the family at a time when so many kids are babysat by an iPad." 

Studies show the program also improves kindergarten readiness and third grade literacy.

"Early literacy is so important for everything that happens downstream- future learning, future success," said Tate, who is now CEO of Colorado's Imagination Library program. It's doled out 3.5 million books in five years.  

"Senator Bridges and I are very proud to be part of something that's going to be moving Dolly's legacy forward, affecting generations to come," said Tate, who is originally from Parton's home state of Tennessee.

Bridges says Parton used her stardom to put good in the world, "Dolly has a track record from day one of not just saying, 'What can I do to be more famous?' But, 'What can I do to improve the world because of this fame and through this fame?'"

Parton was once asked if she wanted to be remembered as the Queen of Country Music or the Book Lady. She said the Book Lady.

Bridges and Tate say her humility and generosity are part of what made Parton universally beloved.

"In America today there's not a lot that everyone can agree on," said Bridges. "I think Dolly polled better than apple pie."