TISDALE — According to organizers, 149 youth in the community have currently signed up for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Canada for February.
Under Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Canada, any Tisdale youth ages five and under can sign up to receive a free book once a month.
The books themselves are covered by sponsorships, while administrative costs are covered by the Dollywood Foundation.
The program had its first books sent out in January, after the program gained a Tisdale sponsorship under Janke LLP and Lacroix Drug.
“One-hundred and thirty-nine books went out in January for the first month, so that was really good,” said Shane Janke, partner with Janke LLP.
“It’s wonderful, everybody is taking it up and spreading the word on it and getting as many kids involved as they can.”
Janke said the number is “a lot higher” than the projections Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Canada had given them, but that wasn’t unexpected.
“We did expect it to be higher than their projections, given it’s a smaller community and very close knit it’s very easy to get the word around. We were expecting a high turnout for it. We weren’t quite expecting it to be this high though, but it’s wonderful.”
Janke’s current estimates are that there are about 170 children five and under in the community that can qualify to use the program.
For February, the 139 number of youth signed up increased to 149.
“That was our goal, to have this available to everyone,” Janke said. “The fact that we’re getting close to full enrollment is very encouraging and we’re very happy about that.”
Registration can be done online at imaginationlibrary.com/ca/find-my-program/. Sponsorships cover a single town’s postal code requiring the youth to have a Tisdale postal code to enter under the Janke LLP and Lacroix Drug sponsorship.
Janke said he has no planned end date for their sponsorship, and hopes to keep it going into the foreseeable future.
“The plan is for it to be continued for as long as the program’s available, that’s our goal with it,” he said. “Keep it running as long as we can. We hope it never has to stop and it can be available for Tisdale forever.”
