SomeĀ 250 Lloydminster kids are at risk of not getting their monthly reading book in the mail as the money to ship it runs out this month.
For the last three years, the Lloydminster Learning Council has partnered with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library to get books into the hands of children up to age five.
A $45,000 grant from SaskPower to the Learning Council covered the shipping costs but that money has been used and grant dollars to take up the slack are yet to be found.
“Dolly provides the books for free, we administer the program for our area, and we pay the shipping bills with the money SaskPower provided us,” said Kimberly Englot,Ā Program Director.
With the SaskPower funds, the books stayed on the Saskatchewan-side of Lloydminster going to rural areas. This is why kids on the Alberta-side of Lloydminster were not able to access the program.
“We continued to seek funding for the Alberta-side with no luck, and have spent the last year applying for literacy grants for children 0-6, also with no luck,” said Englot.
Each month kids get a free book for their age group from the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. The program filled up right away and the wait list is over 100, said Englot.
Kids get a special graduation book when they turn 5 years, and exit the program. This allows someone on the waitlist to get in.
The Dolly Parton Imagination Library in Canada is now helping the Learning Council in its search for funding.
“The book list for 2025 features 83 per cent Canadian authors and illustrators and are printed by Random House Canada and shipped via Canada Post. Babies get board books, toddlers get flexi books (indestructible) and older kids gets regular paper books,” said Joanne Saunders, Regional Lead-West, Dollywood Foundation of Canada.
The SaskPower grant paid $3.85 per child, per month that took care of the shipping costs.
The Imagination Library was created by Dolly Parton in 1995 for her father who could not read. With the aim of inspiring the love of reading in kids, there are over 60, 000 children in Canada receiving monthly books.
Saunders praised the role of the Lloydminster Learning Council in the literacy effort.
“They have been amazing, and have put almost 10,000 books into children’s hands.”
Saunders is hosting a virtual townhall meeting via Zoom on Mar. 13, and is asking everyone to sign up to be present.
“Dolly wants all children in an area to be able to access the program.”
Saunders sees a group of monthly sponsors, a program partner like in the bigger cities of Calgary and Edmonton, and more community support as some of the steps to take.
You may register online for the Zoom meeting which starts at 6:00 p.m.
