What Dolly Did for Tennessee Is What She Did for the World

The books arrived, like clockwork, once a month. They were often wrapped in transparent paper so that you could see at least part of the cover. The return address read “Imagination Library,” and I’d immediately know where it came from.

“We got another book from Dolly,” I’d say. My wife and I would tear it from the wrapping, sometimes immediately read it to our kids, and add it to a........

© The New York Times