Calgary Reads book sale back after two year pandemic break

The annual fundraiser for Calgary Reads has been missed by the agency that focuses on helping children learn how to read by grade three. More than 150,000 books are up for grabs in what has been described by organizers as a shopping frenzy.

Steacy Pinney is the CEO of Calgary Reads and says she's thrilled to host the event this year in support of children's literacy.

"Twenty-five per cent of children in Canada are growing up in homes with no books," said Pinney. "If you don't have books it becomes very hard to be that brain builder for your child that you need to be so the book sale is a great example of our book access strategy and it fills my heart when I see all the parents and children wheeling a suitcase around full of books that I know are going to go home and they'll be able to read them over and over again."

CURLING CLUB TRANSFORMED

The Calgary Curling Club has been transformed with the ice taken out and replaced by tables topped with hundreds of boxes full of books. Dozen's of volunteers are working at different stations sorting the reading material to make it easier for customers to find the books they like.

Mickey Campbell has volunteered at the sale for 12 years and has an extensive book collection at home. She checks the donations and can be surprised by what she finds inside them.

"Sometimes when you're going through the books you find old letters," said Campbell. "You find money, you find airline tickets so you know, and it's just amazing."

This is the first year Laverne Mok signed up to volunteer with a few friends. She's an avid reader and likes to hold a book in her hands.

"I love reading a book, I don't like reading out an iPad unless I have to," she said. "So for me I just like the feel of the book, I find for me looking at the paper creates more of a memory."

MANAGING VOLUNTEERS

Dawn Cruickshank manages all the volunteers and says more than 1,200 will be involved in this year's sale.

"And the big thing for volunteers is that they get to come and pre shop before the sale so that's a big joy if you're a book lover and a reader," said Cruickshank. "The key thing is to come and buy 20 books before all the craziness of crazy shoppers come."

Cruickshank says Calgary Reads needs the sale to pay for books and programs for kids.

"It's been two years since we've had the last sale so it's, you know, we've lost a lot of funding," she said. "We make $350,000 from this event alone so we're definitely glad to be back and be able to get more funding for early literacy in Calgary."

This #NationalVolunteerWeek, a special thank you message from Dawn, our People Manager, to share our incredible thanks to all the volunteers who give their hearts and hands all year round. 🥰
We are so thankful for all you do!! Calgary Reads volunteers, you are the best! 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/RRQcKUZ08R

— Calgary Reads (@CalgaryReads) April 26, 2022

Now in year 18, organizers are trying something different by extending the show. It used to run over a weekend but now will be an 11 day event starting on May 6 through May 11. The sale has every kind of book imaginable, especially a vast children's section and Pinney says it's important for parents to begin reading to their children early on in life.

"We have only 2000 days from the day a child is born until they go to kindergarten to make sure that brain is built," she said. "The way you build a brain is by filling it with all kinds of words and reading books to your child is the most magical thing of all because it builds bonds between you and your child, but it is building their brain every time you introduce a new vocabulary word."

In 2019 the Big Book Sale team made up of 1,100 volunteers collected, sorted, set up, and sold more than 100,000 books with $362,000 raised. 

The Calgary Reads Big Book Sale runs May 6-16 at the Calgary Curling Club located at 720 3rd Street NW.

Learn more about hours, event fees, special sale days and booking an appointment to shop May 6 and 7 at https://calgaryreads.com/big-book-sale/