For nearly 140 years, the Fraser-Hickson Institute has been a cornerstone of literacy in Quebec, and today its flagship initiative, minibiblioPLUS, is bringing books and storytime directly to children across the province. At the heart of its communications is Zoë Whittall, Communications Coordinator, who joined the team earlier this year with a passion for making literacy resources more accessible. Through partnerships with more than 200 daycares, pediatric centres, and community organizations, the program provides free mini-libraries, early literacy workshops, and volunteer-led story sessions—all designed to nurture a lifelong love of reading among children from birth to age eight. In this interview, Zoë shares how Fraser-Hickson is working to close literacy gaps, expand its reach, and inspire families and communities to support the joy of reading from the very start.
Describe your charity/non-profit/volunteer work in a few sentences.
Founded in 1885, the Fraser-Hickson Institute is one of the oldest libraries in Quebec. MinibiblioPLUS is our flagship early literacy program, launched in 2013, which enables our partners to host free mini libraries, or “minibiblios”, stocked from Fraser-Hickson’s collection and supported by librarian-led selection, delivery, and replenishment.
We also offer assistance with the setup and provide early literacy workshops and toolkits, sharing the importance of early literacy with parents, guardians, and educators.
Additionally, we offer storytime sessions led by our trained volunteers. Through these activities and programs, we strive to create meaningful, educational interactions that cultivate a lifelong love of reading.
We have over 200 partners – daycares, pediatric centres, and other community centres catering to children – across Quebec.
What problem does it aim to solve?
We aim to tackle the challenge of low early literacy levels, and especially of limited access to quality books, for children from birth to eight years old. We provide partner childcare centres, community organizations, and hospitals with free access to our curated mini‑libraries. Our programs help combat inequities in literacy by reaching children in underserved or less accessible areas, nurturing positive reading habits from the very start of life.
When did you start/join it?
I joined in March of 2025.
What made you want to get involved?
Before joining the Fraser-Hickson Institute, I was an English language tutor for eight years, and was often struck by the fact that my students struggled to access resources I assigned. It became a mission of mine to try to increase resource availability for young people, particularly those for whom it is a struggle to find quality books and educational materials and resources.
What was the situation like when you started?
I started in a time of transition, when the executive director was about to leave for maternity leave. It was also a time of preparation, as we were planning for our summer programs, and of closure, as many families prepped for the nearing end of the school year.
How has it changed since?
We have had a few big changes since I arrived, in the form of a new interim executive director, as our executive director is on maternity leave, and new team members joining us. Our team is growing dynamically and tackling new programs, initiatives, and expansion. In my role, I have been focusing on increasing our visibility through our social media streams and through communications within our community. I mobilized the team to do a thought leader series, and we have been working together on finding the right data and information for that initiative. We aim to share thoughts and research on the importance of early literacy in an accessible way to the public and to ensure that information regarding why literacy matters is made available on our digital platforms and website.
I was very happy to have the help of an intern from CSJ over the summer, who, along with our other two summer interns, brought a great energy to the office!
What more needs to be done?
We are always looking ahead! We have a lot of exciting new developments, including being featured on a podcast, new partners in the works, and preparations for more workshops and events. We are now piloting expansion at the national level and are excited about the things to come. We are constantly looking for donors and sponsors to support us in our early literacy advocacy journey.
How can our readers help?
There are many ways to support or join us.
You can make a direct impact by becoming a volunteer and leading storytime sessions, taking part in one of our programs, like Sunshine & Storytime, or becoming a delivery driver.
If you’re part of a community group or childcare centre, you can collaborate with us as a partner.
You can support us financially. There are structured ways to contribute that offer both impact and flexibility, which are explained through our donate page: Donate – Minibiblioplus. Parents can donate books when their own kids have grown up, and editors can donate books as well.
Finally, even if you can’t donate time or money right now, you can still support the cause by raising awareness among your networks (friends, family, and local organizations) about our mission and volunteer needs.
If any of these paths resonate with you, reach out to us at direction@minibiblioplus.org!
Do you have any events coming up?
We are coming to the close of our summer programming, Sunshine & Storytime, and have the final sessions in the last week of August. We host workshops throughout the year and will participate in the Salon du Livre in November.
Where can we follow you?
Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram | Website
PAY IT FORWARD: What is an awesome local charity that you love?
There are so many wonderful charities around us, but one that really stands out is First Book Canada. Their goal of equitable education for children stands out to me personally as an extremely important one, especially given that my interest in this field stems from my own students not having resource access. Further, they have donated books to us at the Fraser-Hickson Institute many times, and we love collaborating with them.
