Dolly Parton sends greetings to P.E.I. as Island joins free book program

Country superstar Dolly Parton sent her thanks to P.E.I. last week for joining her Imagination Library charity.

The program provides free monthly books for children up to the age of five.

"I was just over the moon when I heard Prince Edward Island now has a provincial-wide Imagination Library program," Parton said in a video posted to Facebook on Friday.

"My thanks goes to Senator [Diane] Griffin for joining us in Nashville to hear me talk about my Imagination Library program."

She also thanked Premier Dennis King and former education minister Brad Trivers for providing funding for the program, as well as the P.E.I. Literacy Alliance and Rotary Club.

The Imagination Library partners with publishers and postal services to provide monthly delivery of books for $50 a year per child. Those costs are covered locally.

The program launched by the P.E.I. Literacy Alliance in October and the 2,000 spaces were quickly fully subscribed. The province stepped in with funding for another 1,000 children.

There are about 7,000 children under five on P.E.I. The P.E.I. Literacy Alliance has set a goal to register every one of them.

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