Calgary Reads Big Book Sale promotes children’s literacy

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Thousands of readers will be able to browse through more than 175,000 books at the 20th annual Calgary Reads Big Book Sale this month.

Steacy Pinney, early literacy director for the Rotary Club of Calgary, said the sale promotes literacy for young readers and ensures affordability isn’t a barrier in families being able to access books.

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“I was at that very first book sale in the parking lot of the CBC when we raised $5,000, and I was the chair of the Rotary book sale committee when we raised half-a-million dollars last year,” she said, adding that the CBC has been a partner with the sale for 20 years.

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The sale runs May 10 to 20 at the Calgary Curling Club, with most books selling for just $2 or $4.

“We’ve learned that when people come to the book sale, they really are on a mission to find that “just right” book at the right time. So we don’t put a lot of distractions in their way, because typically they walk through the door of the Calgary Curling Club and they just want to start diving into these many tables that are taking over the whole curling rink.”

In celebration of its 20th year, the sale will host a variety of contests, mostly through social media channels.

“A teacher at a school can win a visit from the Little Red Reading House van. Jayman Homes is our main sponsor for the book sale, and they’re going to have a raffle with a little free library, and they will come and install it in the lucky winner’s yard,” Pinney said.

In 2023, more than 14,000 people purchased nearly 200,000 books and raised $501,000 at the sale.

“These proceeds are really needed for early childhood literacy, and those proceeds go to support some really important programs within the Calgary community. So, every dollar we raise, the more we raise, the more we’re able to support these really awesome programs.”

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The largest portion of the proceeds goes to the Little Red Reading House and the Children’s Book Bank, Pinney said.

“Calgarians have generously donated their books for two decades because they’re really wanting to provide support for the next generation of readers,” she said.

“The Little Red Reading House is a beautiful, quirky little magic book house in Inglewood — every child that visits gets to pick a book and keep it for their very own and build their home library.”

The book bank supports many charities that serve children and their families — the Calgary Food Bank, Carya and Children’s Cottage. “Many of these organizations all receive deliveries of books so that they can give them to their clients when they’re there getting counselling, food or any of the other things that people really need in our hard economic times.

“We’ve committed $100,000 every year to continue to operate the book bank; we also give funding to non-profits who are running evidence-based literacy programs.”

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Pinney said it takes approximately 1,200 volunteers to execute a sale of this magnitude. This year, volunteer shifts were filled almost a month before the sale.

Brett Miles is on the book sale organizing committee and has volunteered his time for the event since 2016.

“One thing that really stuck out to me at the time is that we were a team of maybe a dozen or so, and there were only one or two males on the team. I want to be at that sale, showing other men and boys out there that you can be passionate about early literacy and represent,” Miles said.

“I didn’t realize how great the need is in our city to get books into the hands of children. Book ownership is so important, and there are a lot of kids in this city who don’t own a book.”

The book sale runs May 10 and 11 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. by appointment only.

No appointments are necessary from May 12 to 20, with variable opening hours.

For more information about the book sale, visit www.bigbooksale.ca.

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