The Concordia Used Book Fair started in 1997
Susan Hawke, BA 74, equates buying a used book to adopting a puppy from an animal shelter. As organizer of the 18th annual Concordia Used Book Fair, she feels it’s her job to help place abandoned texts.
“I always like finding the perfect book for someone,” says Hawke. “It’s kind of the same with the book fair — I almost feel like we’re an adoption agency, trying to find a perfect home for all these homeless little books.”
The Concordia Used Book Fair started in 1997. Hawke, who is a librarian for the Career Resource Centre at Concordia’s Counselling and Development, has been running the event since the early 2000s.
All the volumes for sale at the fair are donated. To date, the event has raised $140,000. As Hawke explains it: “Every single penny raised goes to either the Concordia Used Book Fair Scholarship or the Multi-faith Chaplaincy’s Student Emergency and Food Fund.”
The fair, which takes place October 6 and 7 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the atrium of the J.W. McConnell Library (LB) Building, offers hundreds of selections. Almost every genre is represented, from fiction, to cookbooks to textbooks and beyond.
This year, Hawke says there are a remarkable number of high quality art books for sale, for some of the best deals in the city. With most items ranging between $2 and $10, the books can be cheaper than a cup of coffee — and guaranteed to last a lot longer.
While stacks of mystery, biography and children’s books can be found on tables organized by genre, there is also an area set aside for the classics. This “treasure table” is certainly worth a once-over, Hawke says, as there’s no telling what might pop up.
She recalls an incident several years ago, when a volunteer found a letter inside a book jacket, still in the envelope. It was dated from the 1940s, and originated in England.
“When we opened it up, it was a letter from C.S. Lewis,” Hawke says. “You’d be surprised by what you can find.”
Hawke calls the fair “a real university effort,” noting the contributions of not only donors but volunteers who dedicate their time. Her team is made up of a core dozen Concordians who meet regularly during the year, as well as some 60 people who come to help during the actual sale.
“In terms of student volunteers; retired staffers who come in to help me; athletics; distribution, who moves my boxes; and conference services, who sets up the tables, it really is a community effort,” Hawke says. “People do really come together.”
- Visit the 18th annual Concordia Used Book Fair on October 6 and 7, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., in the atrium of the J.W. McConnell Library (LB) Building, 1400 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W.