Dolly Parton Imagination Library (Screenshot/Dollywood)

By Dawson Thompson

Early Youth Library

Dolly Parton early literacy program coming to Prince Albert

Dec 1, 2020 | 12:36 PM

A non-profit program focusing on early childhood literacy, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is kicking off in Prince Albert, registration for the program will begin in January.

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Canada is a program that sends books every month to families for children, under the age of five. The program is devoted to inspiring a love of reading in the hearts of children everywhere. Children who are enrolled receive a high quality, age appropriate book, free of charge.

Organizer for the library in Prince Albert, Kurtis Hamel started the push for the program last year.

“I see the value in the literacy program this library can bring to the community,” Hamel said. “We hoped to have had this done in the spring, but when everything went into lockdown, we had to put it on pause.”

The Prince Albert Literacy Network is partnering with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, Prince Albert to help with accepting large corporate donations. The imagination library will work with registrations and programming.

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While the library is launching today in Prince Albert, they are still in the process of securing funding to reach a financial goal. In order for the public to start registering for books, the library is wanting to fundraise $10,000 by January. They are wanting to have enough funds for at least one year of books to start.

The program is celebrating 25 years of supplying books to young readers. Over that time the library has supplied over 150 million books.

According to Hamel, the program is open for everyone with a child under the age of five. There are over 2,500 children in Prince Albert in that age bracket.

“It’s open to everybody, regardless of income, where you live, and background,” Hamel said. “This is a good opportunity to get books to share with the family and spend some quality family time together. I think that is a benefit of the program.

“All of the research behind early literacy and getting books into the hands of children early, also backs up the importance of this program in our city.”

Family literacy coordinator at the P.A. Literacy Network, Kara Thorpe hopes this program can help bring some families closer together.

“We do know the impact of having books in the home, and the availability of reading to our children includes bonding and educational development, so it is key to have a library available in the home,” Thorpe said. “We are looking forward to getting up and running, and opening registration.”

Once registration is available, a link will be available on the Dolly Parton Imagination Library Facebook page. Forms will also be available at the Prince Albert Literacy Network at the Gateway Mall.

A documentary called ‘The Library that Dolly Built’ will be livestreamed on Facebook on Dec. 9, at 7 p.m. eastern to celebrate the programs 25th Anniversary.

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Dawson.thompson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: dawsonthompson8