Yukoner Recognized with 2011 National Literacy Award

 Whitehorse, Yukon – The Rendezvous Rotary Club of Whitehorse – in partnership with the Yukon Literacy Coalition – is pleased to announce that past club President and current club member Claire Derome has received the Council of the Federation Literacy Award for the Yukon for her work with the Yukon Imagination Library. The award, in its seventh year, is presented to an individual in each province and territory celebrating outstanding achievement, innovative practice and excellence in family, Aboriginal, health, workplace or community literacy. “Claire was instrumental in bringing the Dolly Parton Imagination Library concept forward to the Rendezvous Rotary Club in 2006 and since that time, has worked tirelessly for its success and sustainability,” said club President Francine Thivierge. The Imagination Library program was developed by country music legend Dolly Parton via her Dollywood Foundation to address low literacy rates in her home state of Tennessee. It is now implemented throughout Canada, the US and the UK. The program provides each enrolled child with one free book per month from birth to five years of age – a total of 60 books per child – and presently reaches almost 800 children and their families in Whitehorse and the communities. The overwhelming popularity of the Yukon Imagination Library is anticipated to grow to 1200 enrolled children in 2013 for a total distribution of 15,000 books. “At present, the Yukon is the only Canadian jurisdiction to offer the Imagination Library to all its children – in both urban and rural communities” said Yukon Literacy Coalition Executive Director and program partner Beth Mulloy. “Claire was involved in the creation of the Coalition’s Family Literacy Centre and we are thrilled that her contributions to literacy in the territory are being recognized.” Derome is the President of the Yukon Chamber of Mines and owns her own consulting and project management firm, Derome and Associates, in Whitehorse. She will receive her award tomorrow from the Premier in Whitehorse at 10 a.m. as part of International Literacy Day initiatives in the territory. Contact: Amanda Leslie Mosaic Communications 867.334.4770 Moira Sauer Yukon Literacy Coalition 867.668.6535 View or Download as a PDF