Non-profit has gifted over 30,000 books to children in region
Trish Foster has not lost her enthusiasm for children’s literacy.
The retired teacher is the chair of the Carleton North Imagination Library.
“We’re celebrating 10 years here, but Dolly’s Imagination Library is celebrating 30,” she explained.
On Monday, Sept. 15, the Carleton North Branch will host a special anniversary party to celebrate the gifting of more than 31,000 books since it started the program in 2015.
“It’s worth celebrating,” said Foster. “We’ve invited any current child enrolled in the program as well as past children who aged out, but it’s also open to the public.
The event starts at 6:30 p.m. at the R.G. ‘Bun’ Veysey Active Living Centre at 40 McCain Street in Florenceville-Bristol.
The event features games, story time, and a cake. Things wrap up at 7:30 p.m.
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a free book-gifting program that mails free, high-quality books to children from birth to age five, no matter their family’s income.
Launched in 1995, the program has since gifted over 300 million books worldwide.
“Our group is pretty committed to ensuring every new baby in the District of Carleton North gets enrolled in the program within days of their birth,” said Foster.
While the books are free, local committees fundraise and apply for grants to cover the significant mailing costs.
“We’ve been very fortunate to have the support of a lot of organizations, in particular the Florenceville Rotary, who have continued to help us with the shipping costs,” she said.
Leading up to the anniversary celebration, the Carleton North Imagination Library has been playing a modified version of Where’s Waldo. Foster said they have a life-sized cutout of Dolly Parton and have been moving her from business to business, asking, ‘Where’s Dolly?’ and promoting businesses that support their organization.
“It’s giving us a chance to say thank you, because we can’t do it without them,” she said.
