Ste. Anne Library is hosting a book sale to fund a green space at the back of the library. 

Veronique Ewen with the Ste. Anne Library says that with the help of grants they have applied to, they’re hoping to raise in the ballpark of $65,000. 

“We kind of envision this new place to be a spot where the children could play, families can come and enjoy picnics, or read outside and just get away from everything,” she says. “So we're hoping that this is going to benefit our community, the environment, and use the underutilized space behind the library right now.” 

She says the goal is to start the project next summer. 

“So fingers crossed we get all of our funding in place that we can do that.” 

She says that every dollar they receive counts. 

“Even just the little things, if they can pay for the furniture, or pay for the community garden, or anything like that, everything counts towards it.” 

So far the book sale has raised just over $300, and Ewen estimates over 3000 books have been donated. 

Although the goal of the book sale is to help with funding for their project, it's also a great opportunity to bring affordable books to Ste. Anne, as the library is making sure the books they are selling aren’t costly for the community. 

“I think the most expensive book we have is $3, which is great.” 

Ewen thanks the community for the large amount of book donations, as 3000 books is no small number. 

“Our residents are so generous. We have had so many books donated, and anywhere from children's books to really, really new books, to old literature,” she says. “It's amazing what people just happen to have laying around and they've just been so generous and it's been really nice to see how great the community is.” 

All the books that get donated to the library either get sold to raise money for the project, get added to the library’s collection, or if they are very well-loved books, get re-donated. 

“If they're newer books and they're still in really good shape, depending on if we have the book or not, if it's a really popular one, sometimes we'll just keep it for the library. If it's a popular book, but we don't really have the demographic for it, we'll just put it on the table.”  

Ewen says they even received French books. 

“We have a very large French community, so I was shocked by how many French books that were donated to us, like really good quality books,” she says. “French books tend to be quite a bit more expensive than English books, so the books that they have donated are great because we have a lot of French patrons who come in and they're looking for French books, so it's great we've had those brought in.” 

She emphasizes the generosity of the community has been incredible. 

“People have just been so generous. It's amazing how much they just want to contribute to our goal. I think everybody wants to see the community grow, so it’s nice see that support.” 

The book fair started on Saturday, July 8th and is going until the end of summer. 

“So right until the end of August, probably September long weekend will be the cutoff date for it.” 

Whether you are a book lover or just a member of the community who wants to contribute to the cause, Ewen says everyone is invited to take part in the book sale. 

“Obviously we would love for you to come and purchase some books if you're a big reader. If you're not, we even just take donations.” 

She says if you have books laying around that you never touch, you might as well donate them. 

“I know for a fact that even myself at the beginning of this, I went through my books and I was like, ‘wow, there's so many here that I just bought, I read, and I never touched them again.’ I think everyone, if you're a reader, has those,” she says. “So just dropping off any donations that you might have, children's books, teen books, preteen books, anything like that, huge help.” 

If you want to donate money, stop by the Ste. Anne Library with either cash or cheque. 

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