My First Bookshelf
Operated in partnership with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library
The My First Bookshelf program at Calgary Public Library delivers a free book every month to children from birth to age five.
More than 200,000 books have been delivered, thanks to donor support.
Your gift of $6.90 per month can help us reach even more children.
The My First Bookshelf program at Calgary Public Library is operated in partnership with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, inspired by Dolly’s belief that books can encourage children to love reading, dream more, and believe in themselves. Book ownership is powerful — research suggests that having even 20 books at home can foster a lifelong love of reading in children.
Every child deserves books of their own, regardless of their family’s circumstances. Through My First Bookshelf, donors can make a difference. Every gift helps bring the joy of reading to a child’s mailbox each month.
Donate today to help eliminate the program’s waitlist and help children in Calgary start a lifetime of wonder, curiosity, and learning through books.
Testimonials
“In my culture, we don't read so it's a really nice change for the kids to be getting books each month. We usually buy toys instead of books but the kids are really loving it. We appreciate you letting us be a part of the program!”
"It has become a monthly tradition in our house. Every new book day we come home, get a snack, sit on the floor and read our new book. She loves them. The books are such great quality and I certainly believe that reading to her every day has been incredibly beneficial to her talking now. She has a great vocabulary for 13 months!"
“A lot of the families I work with don’t know about community resources and many of them experience language barriers when they come to Calgary. This program is great, and the kids really love it.”
Frequently Asked Questions
My First Bookshelf is a free program that delivers (by postal mail to a child’s home) an age-appropriate, personalized book once a month from birth to age five. That’s 60 books for a child’s bookshelf by their fifth birthday! For more information, or to register, visit calgarylibrary.ca.
Calgary Public Library wants to help every child begin a reading journey, and owning a book is a special first step in building a lifelong relationship with the Library and its many resources. Children often face barriers to Library access for any number of reasons, but early years are vital to literacy development. Calgary Public Library, in partnership with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, is uniquely positioned to reach these children and inspire a love of reading. This experience, and corresponding Library programming, will strengthen early literacy and the connection to the Library for the whole family.
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has delivered more than 200 million books to children in communities across Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, and Australia.
The Imagination Library manages the delivery system, procures high-quality books from publishers at a reduced cost through special print runs, personalizes the books with the child’s name, and facilitates all packaging, shipping, and handling. This allows the Library to focus on building relationships with families in the community.
My First Bookshelf and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library will continue to operate, helping children discover the joy of reading. Dolly didn’t build the Imagination Library to last her lifetime — she built it to last for theirs.
Calgary Public Library Foundation has an ambitious goal of expanding the program to bring a love of reading into the homes of children across Calgary. There are nearly 90,000 children under the age of five in Calgary. Together, we are removing the barriers that children in our community face to literacy and development.
This valuable and highly-popular program is completely donor-funded.
My First Bookshelf is made possible thanks to:
Chapter Sponsors: Canada Life; Lori Egger and Steve Laut; Leah and Ernie Hagel; Kanovksy Family Foundation; Barbara Killick; Legacy Energy; Lorraine and Peter Moore; Sticks & Strings Foundation.
Supporters and Partners: Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library; The Dollywood Foundation of Canada; Calgary Public Library Foundation donors.
Operated in partnership with:
