Plymouth Elementary School is asking each student to bring in one new or gently used book on Friday, Sept. 25, for a drive the school calls "Dolly Donation Day."

The Plymouth Meeting school, part of the Colonial School District, said in an announcement posted Sept. 4 that the drive honors Dolly Parton's passion for literacy. The school is using the tagline "Dream More, Read More, Give One Book."

Students should send their book donation to their classroom teacher by Sept. 25. The school said all books collected will support literacy programs and help get stories to young readers who need them most. The announcement did not name a specific recipient organization for the donated books.

Principal Kylene Phillips leads Plymouth Elementary, which serves families across the Plymouth Meeting area. The drive is the school's first announced literacy event of the 2026–27 school year.

Parton launched the Imagination Library in 1995, inspired by her father's inability to read or write. The program mails more than 3 million free books each month to children from birth to age five in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and Ireland.

A 2026 global study on the Imagination Library found children enrolled in the program were 11 times more likely to be interested in books and 15 times more likely to join in during shared reading than children not enrolled. It was the largest dataset ever assembled on shared book reading.

"My dream has always been to help children love books and love learning, no matter where they live," Parton said in connection with the study's findings.

Families who want to participate can send one new or gently used book with their child to school. The Sept. 25 deadline is the only collection date listed in the announcement.