Posted on 10 November 2026 by Chris Brown.
A gift to Medicine Hat Public Library from a local family will ensure an enduring tribute to their daughter and sister, an avid reader who passed away this past spring.
Three bags of books and DVDs have been donated by the Zimmerman family to the library. Among the books the family donated are Harry Potter titles, “The Testaments” by Margaret Atwood, and “Jurassic Park” by Michael Crichton, as well as various “Game of Thrones” DVDs.
Torri Zimmerman died in April at just 27 years old. She had an extremely rare form of cancer, one her mother says has only three known cases in Canada.
“She's loved books ever since she's been just a baby. Books to her were a big deal. So, we felt this was the right place for them to go,” says Renae. “Hopefully other readers will enjoy them just like she did.”
Most of the items are in pristine condition and look as though they were just delivered fresh from the publisher. Renae says books were everything to Torri and she would read all day long. She didn’t like a wrinkle in her book and was very careful of how she opened the books.
A label that reads “In Memory of Torri Zimmerman. Donated by her family from her personal collection 1998-2026” has been affixed inside the cover of all the donations.
“I absolutely love it,” Renae says. “It's very touching knowing that people will know that that's who it came from.”
All the items donated by the Zimmerman family are now in circulation at the library.
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