[0:00] Good morning everybody.

[0:05] There are few people who've given the world a Nashville,

[0:09] something as lasting and impactful as Dolly Parton.

[0:13] She gave us the belief that a child's dreams should never be

[0:17] limited by the circumstances into which they're born.

[0:20] That's a value we hold dear as we work to make sure that every

[0:24] child in Nashville has an

[0:25] opportunity to reach their potential.

[0:27] Dolly understood this lesson personally.

[0:30] Her family in East Tennessee didn't have much.

[0:33] Her father struggled to read,

[0:35] and books were a precious commodity.

[0:37] She turned that personal testimony into one of the most

[0:40] consequential acts of

[0:42] generosity in modern American life.

[0:45] What we now know as the Imagination Library started in

[0:48] Sevier County, where she would mail a free, carefully selected

[0:52] book every month to children from birth to age five.

[0:56] Governor Phil Bredesen worked with Dolly to make that a

[0:59] statewide program.

[1:00] Now it's available nationwide and its impact has even spread

[1:04] globally to multiple countries.

[1:06] What started as a gift to children where she grew up

[1:11] is now the reason 300 million books are in the hands of

[1:16] children around the globe.

[1:18] In Nashville, we've embraced that mission.

[1:20] Our Nashville Public Library has partnered with Imagination

[1:23] Library, which in Middle Tennessee is facilitated by our

[1:26] wonderful partners at United Way to put books and early

[1:29] literacy tools within reach for thousands of children here.

[1:33] We've even had special dolly themed library cards, and this

[1:37] is maybe the perfect time to consider bringing those back.

[1:40] As a father of two girls who were faithful subscribers to

[1:44] the Imagination Library, there was something special each

[1:47] month when the book arrived at

[1:49] the door with their names on it.

[1:50] Just like Dolly.

[1:52] That book's arrival was magical.

[1:54] Dolly knew that literacy wasn't just a school's issue.

[1:57] It is an issue of possibility, of opportunity, and one that

[2:01] can reshape a life for my daughters.

[2:03] Books have given them

[2:04] vocabulary, imagination and confidence.

[2:08] Their first dreams were built on the foundation of what they

[2:11] have learned from reading.

[2:14] It's a distinct honor to have been able to work directly with

[2:17] Dolly, her foundation, and her business team on so many

[2:21] projects meaningful to her in Nashville, because she reminded

[2:25] all of us that success is fleeting unless you lift others

[2:29] as you go.

[2:30] Tennessee is lucky to call Dolly one of our own, but her

[2:33] greatest gift isn't 9 to 5, my Tennessee Mountain Home, or

[2:37] even her unique version of Rocky Top.

[2:40] It's the millions of little moments in living rooms across

[2:43] the world when a child opened a

[2:44] book and discovered a bigger world.

[2:47] It's her encouragement to all of us to love every moment.

[2:52] That's her enduring legacy.

[2:53] That's what we're going to build upon in Nashville.

[2:57] And one way we're doing that is through our first of its kind.

[3:00] Begin. Begin Bright program, which puts little libraries

[3:04] filled with Dolly's imagination.

[3:05] Library books in every child care center in Nashville.

[3:10] Teachers and parents get literacy resources to help

[3:12] their young learners, and so far, we've installed little

[3:15] libraries in 69 of our child care centers, and that number

[3:18] is growing quickly.

[3:20] When we finish, we'll be the first city in the country to

[3:24] pull this off and make it permanent.

[3:26] One of Mpls program leaders for Begin Bright is here, and I

[3:29] want to thank you all for your work as well as your service on

[3:32] the Imagination Library Advisory Board here in Middle

[3:36] Tennessee, and I hope Dolly would be proud of the impact

[3:39] Begin bright will have on the incredibly formative years of a

[3:42] child's life from ages 0 to 5.

[3:45] We also carry this legacy forward through our great

[3:48] library system.

[3:49] Our children's librarians and staff are long standing

[3:52] champions of early literacy.

[3:54] Terry Thomas is one of them.

[3:55] She launched the Nashville Public Library's Early literacy

[3:58] program for families.

[3:59] Read to Rise, and I'd like to invite Terry to share more

[4:02] about that work and the impact she's seen these books have on

[4:05] the lives of our children.

[4:07] So, Terry, thank you.

[4:13] Good morning.

[4:14] I had the great fortune of becoming a librarian in 2002,

[4:19] just two years after Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

[4:22] expanded from Sevier County to the country.

[4:26] When caregivers bring their babies to storytime, I ask, do

[4:29] you get Imagination Library books?

[4:32] When a new grandparent visits the library, I ask, is the baby

[4:36] getting imagination library books?

[4:37] Here's how you sign up.

[4:40] While we here at the library do offer books for free every day,

[4:44] up to 100 at a time.

[4:46] We do ask that children return them.

[4:50] This can be very difficult for little ones who have fallen in

[4:53] love with a particular book.

[4:56] So when Imagination Library books arrive at their home with

[5:00] their name on it and they get to keep them forever and ever.

[5:06] That is truly a special gift to honor the generosity and the

[5:11] wonderful life of Dolly Parton.

[5:13] Um, please join us for storytimes at your library

[5:17] throughout the city over the next few weeks to hear some of

[5:20] your librarians favorite books from the Imagination Library.

[5:26] Um, next up, we have Erica Mitchell, um, president and CEO

[5:30] of United Way.

[5:36] Thanks so much, Terry.

[5:38] Thank you, Mayor

[5:40] Nash. On behalf of our team and the families that we serve

[5:44] across Middle Tennessee, I'm

[5:46] grateful to stand with everyone here.

[5:48] It feels like a little bit of a family reunion in celebrating

[5:52] Dolly Parton, an artist, a

[5:54] philanthropist, a champion for children.

[5:57] So we know Dolly Parton through songs that crossed generations

[6:00] and borders.

[6:02] But for millions of children.

[6:03] She was also the book lady.

[6:06] She was the person whose name arrived on a package in the

[6:09] mailbox every month, carrying a story just for them.

[6:13] And I'll just share that one of my team members, a lot of our

[6:15] team members have children who

[6:16] receive Imagination Library books.

[6:18] And one of the little girls said when she heard about

[6:21] Dolly, who's going to send me the books?

[6:23] Who's going to send my books?

[6:25] And we said, we're going to

[6:26] make sure those books keep coming.

[6:27] We'll make sure they keep coming.

[6:29] But Dolly started the Imagination Library in 1995 in

[6:33] her home county in East Tennessee, inspired by her

[6:36] father's inability to read.

[6:38] In 2013, United Way of Greater Nashville became the local

[6:41] program partner, and.

[6:43] Her idea was simple but powerful.

[6:46] Every child should have books

[6:48] at home, regardless of family income.

[6:51] She understood that when a child opens a book, that child

[6:55] also opens a door to language

[6:58] and confidence, curiosity and possibility.

[7:01] And today, that vision reaches children all around the world.

[7:04] More than 3 million books are

[7:06] mailed each month here in Tennessee.

[7:08] Every child from birth to age five is eligible to receive a

[7:12] high quality, age appropriate

[7:14] book at no cost to their family.

[7:17] Across Middle Tennessee.

[7:19] That looks like more than five.

[7:20] I'm sorry.

[7:21] 5000 children received the books, and more than 500 000

[7:25] books that are distributed through the program every year.

[7:29] Think about what that means.

[7:31] Thousands of children hearing this book is for you, just like

[7:34] Terry said.

[7:36] Thousands of caregivers pausing to read one story.

[7:40] Thousands of home libraries growing one mailbox at a time.

[7:45] The impact is bigger than the books themselves.

[7:48] Reading together helps build vocabulary.

[7:50] It strengthens the bond between children and caregivers and

[7:53] prepares young learners to enter school ready to succeed.

[7:57] Because the first years of life are such a critical period for

[8:00] brain and language development, every shared story matters.

[8:05] At United Way of Greater Nashville, we are honored to

[8:08] help carry this promise forward in partnership with the

[8:11] Dollywood Foundation, the Governor's Early Literacy

[8:14] Foundation, local leaders,

[8:16] donors, the library, community partners.

[8:20] We raise the resources and awareness needed to keep moving

[8:24] books into the hands of children throughout the region.

[8:27] Dolly showed us that a bold vision can begin with something

[8:30] small one child, one book, one family reading together.

[8:35] Then it can grow into a movement that changes what is

[8:38] possible for generations to come.

[8:41] So today, we honor Dolly.

[8:43] Let us do more than celebrate what she built.

[8:46] Let us recommit ourselves to sustaining it.

[8:49] If you are the parent or the caregiver of a child under

[8:53] five, enroll.

[8:55] And if you can give, volunteer

[8:58] or help spread the word, join us.

[9:00] And if a child asks you to read the same favorite book for the

[9:04] 10th or the hundredth time.

[9:06] Say yes, because in that moment you are helping build a reader

[9:10] and a future.

[9:12] Dolly gave generations of children more than books.

[9:15] She gave them the joy of being read to.

[9:17] The confidence to learn and the promise that their community

[9:20] believes in their future.

[9:22] May we honor her by keeping that promise together.

[9:26] Thank you.

[9:37] Thank you.

[9:38] Terry. Erica.

[9:39] Um. Every area that has the Imagination Library has a great

[9:45] local partner like United Way.

[9:46] That makes it possible.

[9:48] And if you have been to any of our roundtables over the past

[9:51] few years, you know how much of an impact our United Way here

[9:55] and Erica and her team have in Middle Tennessee.

[9:59] As I said earlier, Dolly Parton's message to all of us

[10:02] was to love every moment.

[10:04] So we're going to take every moment to love Dolly back.

[10:07] That's why one of the reasons we wanted to have our

[10:09] Imagination Library partners here is today, I am proud to

[10:13] join them in proclaiming September Imagination Library

[10:16] Month in Nashville.

[10:18] This is something we had been planning.

[10:27] And it's one of the many ways that I think this city and the

[10:31] people who have loved, uh, Dolly's music, her success as a

[10:37] businesswoman, her incredible philanthropy and her joyful

[10:42] spirit will will have ways to continue to uplift that legacy.

[10:47] In doing so, I do hope that in echoing Erica's call, every

[10:52] nashvillian will take a chance to encourage a child.

[10:55] They know, a family they know to sign up for Imagination

[10:59] Library or if you can donate.

[11:02] This wonderful program changes the lives of countless more

[11:05] young people

[11:07] with every addition of support.

[11:09] And I want to end today with two final reflections, the

[11:12] first on Dolly and the Labor Day holiday that's just around

[11:16] the corner.

[11:17] Dolly Parton was a member of two unions for 58 years.

[11:20] She was a member of the American Federation of

[11:22] Musicians local 257 that's the

[11:25] Nashville Musicians Association.

[11:27] She also joined Sag-Aftra in

[11:29] 1969, amassing over 50 years in membership.

[11:33] Throughout her career, she maintained her membership,

[11:36] helping other entertainers and musicians find the fair

[11:39] treatment they deserve.

[11:40] And we know that when workers organize, wages and benefits go

[11:44] up and safety improves not just for those that are organizing,

[11:48] but for everyone.

[11:49] And we know too, there are some big jobs ahead in Nashville,

[11:52] ones that will require a lot of hard work.

[11:55] And as we continue to invest in programs like Music City

[11:58] Construction Careers and work with unions in the public

[12:02] sector, I'm grateful as we approach Labor Day.

[12:05] To all the workers who've played such a significant role

[12:08] in building Nashville into the city it is today.

[12:11] I hope I'll see many of you at the Labor Day parade next week.

[12:14] A few months ago, we lost another great woman leader,

[12:17] Rhonda McDaniel, the long serving president of the

[12:20] Central Labor Council of Nashville and Middle Tennessee.

[12:24] This parade was near and dear to Wanda's heart, and I worked

[12:27] with her for more than a decade to make sure the parade was a

[12:30] success every year.

[12:32] So I hope people will turn out like never before to make this

[12:35] our biggest Labor Day parade ever.

[12:38] Lastly, one final announcement that builds on the love of

[12:41] literacy and opportunity that Dolly was so passionate about.

[12:45] We're excited that My Brother's Keeper Nashville has just been

[12:48] selected for the Obama Foundation Accelerator program.

[12:52] This is a two year, $200,000 grant initiative.

[12:56] The goal is to ensure every Metro School student is reading

[12:58] on grade level by the end of third grade.

[13:01] As we've talked about today, achieving that goal starts with

[13:04] early learning, strong families, access to books,

[13:07] excellent teaching, trusted relationships, and coordinated

[13:11] community support.

[13:12] That's exactly what My

[13:13] Brother's Keeper offers as an organization.

[13:15] I was proud upon taking office to announce that we would be

[13:19] the official sponsor of the organization, and I'm looking

[13:22] forward to joining students and families tomorrow at the sixth

[13:25] annual My Brother's Keeper Nashville Youth Empowerment

[13:28] Summer Summit at Martin Luther King Junior Magnet High School,

[13:32] where one of the sessions will focus on storytelling.

[13:35] And with that, I'll take some questions.

[13:45] This has been a service of the Metro Nashville Network.

[13:49] If you would like to see this presentation again, or for more

[13:52] information on this and other programs, visit nashville.gov.

Mayor's Media Availability August 28, 2026

Transcript

Mayor&#x27;s Media Availability August 28, 2026

Transcript

Mayor's Media Availability August 28, 2026