The Calgary Reads Big Book Sale is underway, with nearly 200,000 books up for grabs

One of Calgary's biggest book sales returns on Friday. The event is expected to attract tens of thousands of readers.

More than 200,000 used books are filling the Calgary Curling Club this week as the Calgary Reads Big Book Sale returns for its 22nd year.

The annual sale runs May 8-17 and is supported by more than 1,200 volunteers who spent weeks collecting, sorting and arranging the books before the doors opened.

Thursday marked a special opening for volunteers, who were given the first chance to shop the sale before it opens more broadly to the public.

Even with assigned noon entry times, eager book buyers began lining up before 9 a.m., with the lineup eventually stretching around the building and down Third Street N.E.

“We have some very eager volunteers that are already outside the door, and we don’t open for three hours,” said Tammy Tranquada, co-chair of the Calgary Reads Big Book Sale.

Tranquada said the event relies entirely on donated books from Calgarians and has grown significantly since it first began.

“I believe this is our 22nd year of running it in the City of Calgary,” she said. “This year, we’re pretty sure we got over 300,000 books. About 250,000 of them are probably on the table.”

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She said the sale raised $545,000 in proceeds last year, with the money supporting early literacy initiatives in Calgary through the Rotary Club of Calgary’s early literacy committee.

“It’s a perfect fit, really,” Tranquada said. “We receive books, we sell them, and then the fund goes back into helping children read at an early age.”

Steve Allan, co-chair of the Rotary Club’s early childhood literacy committee, said literacy support can have long-term impacts on children and communities.

“If a kid can’t read at grade level by grade three, they will begin to fall behind,” Allan said. “By grade three, they should be reading to learn, as opposed to the early years where they’re learning to read.”

He said the fundraiser now helps support a range of literacy programs through the Kids Literacy Collective.

Among the volunteers shopping Thursday was Michelle Neal, who has volunteered at the sale for about eight years.

“I just like to give my time to good causes, and I’m a big book reader,” Neal said. “I like to check out all the books that are available.”

Former teacher Gail Campbell said she came away with some of the books she had been looking for, along with a few unexpected finds, including the book “Weird Curling Facts”.

Volunteers say the early access for books among the massive collection is exciting.

Marie Bowen said she arrived with a specific interest in true adventure and mountain climbing books, even though she joked they are about “all the things I don’t do.”

“It’s kind of a psychological drive to get here, to get that best book that someone else could get,” Bowen said. “I came with a type of book that I really wanted.”

Like many who arrived early Carla Shierman came prepared with a list.

“Books make me happy,” Shierman said. “I want to try and find the ones that I got on my list.”

The sale also includes a collectibles and rare books section featuring first editions, signed books and vintage collections.

Alison Glass, lead for the collectibles and rare books section, said volunteers recently discovered a first edition of Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” among the donations.

“We have first editions show up regularly,” Glass said. “They are almost all in beautiful shape.”

The sale now runs over 10 days, with shoppers booking appointment times during the opening weekend before the event transitions to broader public access in the days that follow.