A legacy of literacy: Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library making an impact in Moose Jaw

Following the death of country music legend Dolly Parton, her literacy organization, the Imagination Library, is seeing a bump in usage. (Ardenn Lloyd/CTV News)

Weeks after the death of country music legend Dolly Parton, usage of a Saskatchewan chapter of her literacy organization has risen significantly.

In 1995, Parton created the Imagination Library in honour of her father who could not read or write. The library is a program that supplies kids with free books from birth until the age of five.

In 2023, a branch in Moose Jaw was opened.

The group in Moose Jaw began registering kids when the Early Learning Centre opened in the same year.

A total of 114 kids have graduated from the program and before Dolly’s death on Aug. 25, there were 305 children enrolled in the program.

That number has grown dramatically after International Literacy Day on Sept. 8, when the Early Learning Centre held an open registration event for the Imagination Library.

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Coordinator Wanda Peakman provided more details on the surge of literacy.

“We will now be adding 151 more children to take us up to 465,” she said. “Children will be receiving books in Moose Jaw and the surrounding area from that age 0 to 5.”

Peakman believes that the surge of local awareness is driven by Parton’s death and the media coverage surrounding the country music icon and her life of philanthropy outside the music world.

“When they google Dolly one of the things that might come up is the Dolly Parton Imagination Library,” Peakman explained.

“So, people are getting curious about it which then increased awareness here. We’ve received lots of emails, text messages Facebook posts asking, ‘How do I get my child registered?’ and they are asking from all over Saskatchewan.”

High demand for spots in the program is well-earned. According to studies done by the Canadian branch for the Imagination Library kids in the program are 13 times more likely to read on four or more days of the week.

Peakman says the benefits aren’t just for kids, it’s visible in the parents and guardians as well.

“Caregivers are six times more likely to count images, eight times more likely to describe images, and five times more likely to let the child hold the book compared to caregivers not in the program. So already there’s benefits in the early years that will help those little ones as they enter the pre-school and kindergarten years,” she said.

With the surge in registration, there are now over 3,000 children actively receiving monthly books across Saskatchewan.

Dolly’s impact only continues to grow through the legacy she left behind, especially in Moose Jaw, where she played her final show in Saskatchewan back in 2016 at the Temple Gardens Centre.