Dolly Parton Says Her Philanthropy Isn’t for a Tax Write-Off

Dolly Parton is among the 2022 class of Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy honorees for her decades of charitable efforts.

Ahead of the ceremony at Gotham Hall in New York City on Thursday, the country icon spoke to PEOPLE about the honor and what inspires her philanthropic work, which includes helping young children around the world learn to read since 1995 through the Dollywood Foundation’s Imagination Library.

Since its launch around three decades and 40-something albums into Parton’s career, the Tennessee-based organization has donated nearly 200 million books to children across the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, and Ireland. She launched the Imagination Library to help her hometown of Sevier County, inspired by her father Robert’s inability to read and write.

“That always made me feel bad about my dad, so I started it based on that, just for our county,” Parton, 76, tells PEOPLE. “Governor Phil Bredesen thought it was a great idea, so they took it statewide. It’s just grown in leaps and bounds ever since then, but it came from a place in my heart to try to help children in their young years, their most impressionable years, to learn how to read and write.”

Other recipients of this year’s Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy include Manu Chandaria, who works through the Chandaria Foundation to provide healthcare to overlooked African communities; Lyda Hill, founder of the IF/THEN initiative to support women in STEM; as well as Lynn Schusterman and her daughter Stacy, major investors in criminal justice reform and reproductive rights.

Parton marks the first female entertainer to be honored with the award, a feat she doesn’t take lightly. “It’s great to be recognized, especially something as big as this [Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy] with all these wonderful, intelligent people that have done so much for the world,” she says. “Just to be one of them is an honor to me.”

Despite holding 10 Grammy awards, 13 ACM Awards and an upcoming induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, however, Parton doesn’t consider awards the goal of her philanthropy.

“It’s always wonderful to get recognition for anything you’ve done that might’ve helped people. I’m always proud to accept the awards, and I’m always humbled by it,” she says. “I’m proud of the Imagination Library as much as anything I’ve ever done in my life. To get an award for the things you’ve done just says, ‘Hey, people are noticing, and it’s doing some good!’ It must be, or you wouldn’t be recognized to that extent.”

According to the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy’s selection committee, Parton was chosen as a 2022 honoree for going above and beyond to help others. “With her philanthropy and her artistry, she has empowered and lifted up the citizens of her Tennessee home county as well as millions more around the world,” reads a statement from the organization. “We believe that her many philanthropic achievements embody the values of our founder [Andrew Carnegie], who, with us, would surely greet Parton with ‘affection, gratitude, and admiration.'”

Beyond the Imagination Library, Parton’s philanthropic efforts also include donations to Vanderbilt University for pediatric infectious disease research and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine and the Dollywood Foundation’s My People Fund to support families affected by the 2016 wildfires in Sevier County.

Amid her busy schedule of artistic and business-related ventures, she has a team of staffers to help find causes to support. But mostly, she follows her heart. “I always want to do things that I can be proud to talk about, things that I believe in,” says Parton. “I cannot be a hypocrite and just say I’m going to donate this money for a tax write-off. I’d really like for it to mean something to me — something I can take pride in.”

Throughout her many decades-long career, Parton’s seen extreme successes, which inspire her to give back to communities in need. She’s committed to putting in work to help others and considers it her duty to do so.

“I know it’s a lot of work, but there’s a scripture in the Bible that says, ‘To whom much is given, much is required,’ so that’s kind of how I feel when I think I’m working too much toward something,” she explains. “When it’s something you love, you’re happy to do the work, and I’ll continue to do it for as long as I last.”