Australia joined in 2013.
Then, in 2019, the Republic of Ireland became the fifth country to introduce Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
The program’s official website says its mission is to inspire a love of reading by providing free, age-appropriate books to children from birth to age five.
The books are selected according to developmental stages rather than simply being distributed randomly.
In Ireland, registered children receive books through participating local programs, with the organization and community partners working together to support distribution.
Parton’s organization says the program was inspired specifically by her father’s inability to read and write.
That origin story has become one of the most recognizable parts of the Imagination Library’s identity.
For Parton, literacy was not an abstract educational issue.
It was something she had seen affect someone she loved.
From Tennessee to Ireland
The Imagination Library formally arrived in the Republic of Ireland in early 2019.
The initial launch took place in Dublin 24, according to the organization.
Ireland became the fifth country to participate.
From there, the program expanded through partnerships with local organizations and communities.
The official Irish program explains that children who are registered can receive one free book per month addressed directly to them.
If a child begins receiving books at birth and remains enrolled until age five, the child may build a collection of 60 books.
The fact that the program has now operated in Ireland for several years gives Aer Lingus’s decision to distribute books on the inaugural EI95 flight additional meaning.
It connects the airline tribute not only to Parton’s music but also to a program that already has a presence within Ireland itself.
The books being handed to children on the aircraft are therefore not simply promotional souvenirs.
They represent the same principle that has driven the Imagination Library for decades: encouraging young people to see books as something personal, enjoyable and worth keeping.
Dunne said Aer Lingus wanted the first EI95 flight to recognize Parton’s belief in reading as well as her musical achievements.
The airline hopes the books will make the journey memorable for its youngest passengers while encouraging them to “keep reading, imagining and dreaming.”
Why Giving a Child a Book Matters
The symbolism of distributing books during a transatlantic flight is particularly appropriate.
A long flight gives children something increasingly rare in modern life: uninterrupted time.
A book can turn part of that journey into an imaginative experience completely separate from the aircraft around them.
One child might be flying to Nashville for the first time.
Another might be visiting family.
For some, the book given aboard EI95 could become permanently linked with the memory of the trip.
That idea closely resembles the philosophy behind the Imagination Library.
The organization does more than place books in homes.
By sending books directly to children in their own names, the program attempts to create a sense of ownership.
This is your book.
It arrived for you.
Over time, that experience can help make reading feel less like an obligation and more like something belonging naturally to everyday life.
The Ireland program says its books are selected to meet children’s developmental needs, and participating families receive age-appropriate titles throughout the years before a child turns five.