'In walked this big bundle of energy': how Dolly Parton's 2007 visit left its mark on Rotherham
Following Dolly Parton's death, the South Yorkshire town of Rotherham is recalling her 2007 visit to launch her book-gifting programme in the UK, which has since delivered 6.3 million books to children nationwide.
Since Dolly Parton's death on Monday, tributes have poured in from around the world, including from the English town of Rotherham, which remembers a December 2007 visit that left a lasting impression on its residents.
The country music star travelled to the former mining and steelworking town in South Yorkshire to launch the UK edition of her Imagination Library, a book-donation scheme she had originally founded in her home county in Tennessee more than a decade earlier.
Among those who met her was newborn Emma Jarman, whose parents were unexpectedly called to Rotherham hospital the day after her birth to meet the singer. Emma's father, Shane Jarman, recalled Parton arriving in a flurry of camera flashes and energy, and admitted he was nervous watching her long red-nailed hands hold his tiny daughter.
A scheme built on personal experience
The programme ensured every child in Rotherham received a free book addressed in their own name every month until age five, funded jointly by Parton's foundation, the local council and other backers. Deborah Bullivant, who later led the Rotherham scheme, said many local families were initially sceptical of the celebrity-backed initiative, but that it ultimately helped build a reading habit in homes that previously had little connection to books.
Parton reportedly said she felt a genuine connection to Rotherham, seeing parallels between the town's industrial, often-mocked identity and her own humble upbringing.
Although the Rotherham scheme was discontinued in 2015 after the council withdrew funding, the Imagination Library expanded to other UK areas, including Doncaster, North Lincolnshire, the London borough of Southwark and Nottingham.
Since Emma Jarman received the first UK book — a signed copy of The Tale of Peter Rabbit — in 2007, the scheme has distributed 6.3 million books across the UK, and 300 million worldwide. Emma, now 18, is preparing to start a biomedical science degree at university.
