Parton, who died aged 80 in August, set up the Imagination Library in 1995, inspired by her father who could not read or write, and the scheme has since been rolled out in countries across the world. It opened in the UK in 2007 and has gifted nearly eight million free books to children across the UK, but has previously struggled in Wales.
The relaunch covers three school communities in Swansea (Clwyd, Brynmill and Llanrhidian primary schools), Pencoed Primary School in Bridgend, and a community in Risca near Newport. All children under five living in the participating school catchment areas will be eligible to register. The scheme aims to help parents and children access books, especially during a cost-of-living crisis.
With funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, the scheme was launched at Clwyd Primary School on Wednesday, with performances by school pupils and a Welsh-language rendition of Parton's hit Jolene by singer-songwriter Bronwen Lewis.
Becky, 38, from Swansea, said her nine-month-old baby Phoebe would benefit from the programme. "We love it, we think it's amazing. I've got another little girl as well, Faith, and since she was a baby, we've read to her, and she is thriving now," she said. "She loves reading to us. We buy her books constantly, so having a new one every month, she'll be waiting for it in the post."
Mum-of-three Diana Cune, 34, said: "I always tell my girls that knowledge is power and books are the key to unlock that. We're extremely lucky and I think this is a marvellous project for our community. The kids are very fortunate to have this project rolled out here."
Lewis's bilingual version of Jolene, featuring Parton herself and her niece Jada Star, was released in October. It followed the revelation that Parton has Welsh links in Machynlleth, Powys. “It feels like a series of events have led to this,” she said. “From me singing in Welsh with Dolly Parton, her understanding her Welsh ancestry before she passed, and now a relaunch. It's unbelievable.”
The relaunch has also sparked discussion about reading more generally. Welsh Children's Laureate Nicola Davies called for more funding and emphasis on reading in schools to improve educational outcomes, after the latest Pisa test results suggested Wales' performance had fallen further behind other UK nations. "I would like to really see this programme being properly funded so that it could be in every part in Wales," she said. "The National Curriculum for Wales hardly mentions reading for pleasure, and reading for pleasure has been proved by so much research to be absolutely central to supporting children's educational performance across all subjects."
Helena Barrett-Duncan, regional director of The Dollywood Foundation UK, which is delivering the initiative in partnership with Community Focused Schools, said she would like to see the scheme rolled out to other communities. "This is the beginning... the dream would be where every child in Wales would get this monthly gift of books," she said. "Dolly dreams big - she always did - and this whole programme is about making dreams come true." She added that the charity was exploring how to bring Welsh language provision to the programme, with one bilingual book already included.
The Welsh government said reading was "a central part of our curriculum" and schools played "an important role in how learners develop a lifelong love of reading". It said it remained committed to a library space in every primary school and that through curriculum grants it had funded literacy projects including Love Reading Cymru and the Summer Reading Challenge, while its Ymgolli campaign aimed to inspire young people to see the value of reading in all its forms.