Unloading a mountain of used books at Brunswick square to support a great cause

This column previously appeared in the Telegraph-Journal on August 17th, 2010.

The article was written by FUSION Saint John’s Claire Ryan:

While I was working on this week’s column, I was looking at my own, very full, bookshelf, which has technically grown to include those books that do not actually fit on the shelves and are stacked on the floor next to it. As any reader can tell you, books are not really meant to sit on shelves, but unless you roll with equally avid readers, it can be hard to part with books or put them back in circulation.

For anyone like me, who could benefit from thinning out their personal library, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Saint John is collecting donations of gently used books, which will be sold at its annual Big Book Sale fundraiser.

“People who read appreciate books and don’t want to see them going in the garbage. It’s a recycling program. Everyone benefits,” says Big Brothers Big Sisters Saint John executive director Laurie Collins. In this case, your donations and purchases will not only diversify your own book collection, it will help raise money for children’s mentoring programs, which will benefit the entire community.

The sale, which will be held in Brunswick Square for the third year in a row, is one of the largest book sales in the city. It will run for six days during mall hours, and the books range from 10 cent magazines to $3 books, with more than 15 different categories, from kids to fiction to sports to reference. “You name it, we’ve got it. There are people who come back each day to check out the new stock,” says Collins. “The categories expand every year, inspired by ideas and donations from the community.”

The Big Book Sale started as a small idea to generate some funds for Big Brothers Big Sisters. A staff member at the time had seen it happen elsewhere, and thought it was an idea that could work in Saint John. In the years since, the book sale has continually grown in terms of both the quantity and quality of books donated and the amount of people who come out to support the sale and add to their own libraries. Last year the Big Book Sale raised more than $11,000. The sale will run longer this year, and Big Brothers Big Sisters hopes to raise $15,000 overall. “We’ve got thousands of books this year, I couldn’t even begin to guess the exact number. The quality of books is really unbelievable – we’ve gotten some great donations this year. Some of the Sobeys locations have just gotten a mountain of books,” Collins says of one of the drop-off possibilities.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Saint John’s 5th Annual Big Book Sale will take place Aug. 23-28, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Brunswick Square. Donations of gently used books can still be made: Up to three grocery bags can be dropped at Sobeys stores, while more than three bags can be dropped at the Big Brothers Big Sisters Office.

Claire Ryan is on the FUSION Saint John board. Reach her at cryan@mtlpr.ca.