Dolly Parton’s literacy legacy lives on in Moose Jaw

Dolly Parton’s legacy is still arriving in mailboxes across Moose Jaw, one children’s book at a time.

The program has taken on added significance following the death of the 80-year-old country music icon and philanthropist on Aug. 25.

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Wanda Peakman, co-ordinator of the Moose Jaw Early Years Family Resource Centre, said local volunteers are committed to carrying on Parton’s vision.

“It’s gotten a little bit more of a spark because of the recent passing of Dolly,” Peakman said. “However, her legacy is going to carry on.”

She said the organization has been reassured by the Dollywood Foundation that the program will continue.

Books arriving in local mailboxes

The Dolly Parton Imagination Library mails age-appropriate books each month to registered children from birth to age five.

Peakman said the program began operating in Moose Jaw and surrounding communities in 2023 and now reaches 306 children each month.

“Every month, 306 children in Moose Jaw and surrounding areas find a book in their mailbox because of the community that funds it and the volunteers who run it,” she said.

The service is offered at no cost to participating families and is funded by local donations and community support.

Peakman said recent Canadian research highlights the positive impact the program is having on family reading habits.

According to the study, caregivers enrolled in the program were six times more likely to count images in books, eight times more likely to describe images and five times more likely to let children hold books compared with caregivers whose families are not enrolled.

The research also found children participating in the program were 13 times more likely to read four or more days per week.

“So, there’s not only that connection with the parents, but the benefits of reading early to set them up for a successful school year and school life,” Peakman said, adding that businesses and organizations interested in supporting the initiative can donate directly to the local program so funds stay in the region.

Growing interest after Parton’s death

Peakman said public awareness of the program has surged in recent days as people learn more about Parton’s charitable work.

She said the local office has received more calls, emails and social media messages from residents wanting to register children or make donations.

Interest has been so strong that the program’s online book-ordering and registration system recently crashed under the volume of traffic.

“It was pretty quiet up until just recently,” Peakman said. “People are asking ‘How do I register?’ ‘How do I donate?’”

While organizers expect demand to keep rising, Peakman said the increased attention reflects the lasting influence of a woman whose commitment to literacy changed the lives of millions of children, including hundreds in Moose Jaw and surrounding communities.

Prince Albert children also benefiting from Dolly’s program

In 2026, 22,241 books were mailed in Saskatchewan alone.

Kara Thorpe is with the Imagination Library in Prince Albert and said she was shocked when she heard about the country music legend’s death.

“I mean, it ties up the heartstrings, specifically when we’ve been working so closely with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library and the foundation, and all of the support and things that they’ve been giving out to us as a community, it was just like a stop moment that I kind of think I will remember moving forward where I was on the day that I heard that she had passed,” she said.

“I remember growing up listening to Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton’s Christmas record on the record player in my parents’ house. It’s kind of been a part of the ebb and flow of my life for a very long time,” Thorpe said.

She said the goal behind the program’s creation was a good one.

“Dolly really started it because she truly believed that early access to books and early access to literacy is one way of making a major impact on things like literacy levels and poverty and all of the social challenges that we might have in our communities,” she said.

The operation in Prince Albert has been running for five years and, just six months ago, received its five-year certificate.

Thorpe said the way the program works is pretty simple.

“The way the program works is that the local organizing volunteer committee raises funds. So we are on average about $3.14 per month, per participant for the program. So we, as an organizing committee, run fundraisers, write grants to get that money to come into our account, and then every month we receive a bill for the number of children that are registered in the program,” she said.

“At this time, we have capped it at 525 children per month, which is just over about $2,000 a month, and then the foundation runs all the back-end stuff. They do all the mailings. They figure out the books. They pay for the majority of the books because you can imagine a book isn’t $3. They’re more than that, and then shipping and everything else. So they take care of all of that for us,” Thorpe said.

While the program currently has 20 libraries provincewide, Thorpe said that number seems to be growing.

“We’re finding a lot of growth in Indigenous communities picking up the library and opening up branches in their communities. So it’s a matter of if there’s a group of people that are able to do some fundraising to be able to keep it kind of running,” Thorpe said.

While the program seems to be expanding, Thorpe said donations are always appreciated.

“There’s been lots of talk about doing donations on behalf of Dolly to the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. It doesn’t matter where you are, you can search if your community has an affiliation, and you can tag that donation to go directly to that fund,” Thorpe said.

“So, if you’re in Prince Albert and you went on the website, you could actually click and find Prince Albert, and then the funds would then come to the Prince Albert chapter. So if anybody’s interested in giving some sort of donation to the Imagination Library, we’d be more than excited to accept it.”

—with files from 650 CKOM’s Roman Hayter