About 60,000 children now participate in Kansas’ Imagination Library, 10,000 of whom joined in the past month since the announcement of Parton’s visit.
Three of the state parks — El Dorado, Milford and Clinton — additionally have story trails, which incorporate books from the Imagination Library.
To cap the celebration, Parton played two of her hit songs, including “Coat of Many Colors,” which she dedicated to mothers around the state. That song tells the story of a patchwork coat that Parton’s mother had created for her out of the necessity of poverty. Parton wore that coat proudly as a symbol of her mother’s love.
