SANDY, Utah — While some of us are working 9 to 5, some of Canyons School District’s tiniest will be reading from 9 to 5 and hopefully for the rest of their lives, thanks in part to a beloved Smoky Mountain songbird.
“I remember when they were little, I looked up to see if Imagination Library was in Utah, and I was so excited when I found out. I think they announced it a month ago that it was coming to Utah. I’m really excited,” says Canyons parent Analisa Edmonds.
For Analisa and her readers, the imagination in Imagination Library is as literal as it gets.
“I like that we get to cuddle when we’re reading and then talk about the book. I’m not very good at making up my own stories, so it’s nice to read and look at the pictures,” says Analisa.
Orem family remembers Dolly Parton’s lasting gift to dying fan:
“A picture book is actually a hug," says Canyons District Library media specialist Gretchen Zaitzeff. "When you think about it, you open it up and if you have a child on your lap, it’s an embrace that’s shared between a parent and a child that opens a whole world of discovery.”
And that’s what it’s about.
Zaitzeff says the opportunity to get free books into the hands of children is key to becoming strong readers.
“Having that partnership with not only Dolly’s Imagination Library, but their parents who are building that love of reading, so that when we help them learn the phonics and the mechanics of it, they can become independent readers. It’s just amazing. We’re just so thrilled,” says Zaitzeff.
Dolly Parton's legacy takes root in corn mazes across North America this fall:
In 31 years, Parton’s Imagination Library has provided more than 300 million books to kids across five different countries.
For it to make its way to the Beehive State is not lost on district superintendent McKay Robinson.
“Dolly Parton was truly all about community, building a community. That’s what we’re trying to do as well as a school,” says Robinson.
Even if the date is not 9-25, reading is still a way to make a living.
It’s more than barely getting by.
“If a student can read, they can learn anything,” says Zaitzeff.