The Dolly Parton Imagination Library Antigonish is up and running.
Starting in 1988 in her home state of Tennessee, the Dolly Parton Imagination Library is a free book giving program, which sees kids get books for free until their fifth birthday. It came to Canada in 2006, and started in Antigonish in March of 2023.
Kathleen Robertson, chair of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library Antigonish, said 627 local children signed up to receive free books and they are hoping to enroll more.
Robertson said the benefits of the program are amazing, noting the earlier children can get their hands on books, the faster they will fall in love with reading and learning. She said schools are participating, with primary and pre-primary grades ordering books for the classroom.
She said while Dolly covers most of the costs, the local groups raise money to cover $3.85 per book per child, with $2 going for the cost of the book and $1.85 for the shipping. Robertson said local charities, businesses, individuals, and municipalities supported the program so they could get it off to a great head start in its first year.
For more information, please visit imaginationlibrary.com/ca
