The Children's Book Bank Blog

Recently we created a new video about the Book Bank, showing the wonderful interior as well as talking to some of those who work at the Book Bank, some of the teachers, donors and the kids who use the Book Bank.  Make sure to take a look and share it around!

On Wednesday April 25th, Bank of Montreal Financial hosted a charity dinner in honour of the Children’s Book Bank.  The event was hosted at First Canadian Place, in the Executive Dining Room on the 68th floor.  Needless to say the view of the city was amazing!

The evening started out with cocktails and an opportunity for the guests, donors and the Book Bank staff and volunteers that were attending to mingle and chat. There were chances to share anecdotes from the Book Bank’s success over the past four years with anyone unacquainted with our organization, as well as thank those who have been invested in the Book Bank’s success.

Following dinner was a panel discussion on “Coming to Canada: Urban Immigration Challenges and Opportunities” moderated by Noel Hulsman with the following guest speakers:

• The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, former Governor General of Canada

• Ratna Omidvar, President of Maytree Foundation

• David Booth, Professor Emeritus at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto.

Some of the panelists shared personal stories about immigrating to Canada, and offered insights into how newcomers to Canada experience hurdles with literacy in its many forms.

We would like to thank the following organizations for supporting the Book Bank through purchasing tables and attending the evening:

Barrick Gold
BMO Financial
Cannacord Genuity
Cisco Canada
Dundee Securities
GMP Securities
Home Equity Bank
KPMG
Oxford Properties
Peterson Law
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Royal Bank

It is with these donations that the Children’s Book Bank is able to continue to remain open, providing books and literacy support to families in the community.

A special thanks to BMO Financial for hosting the event and to Cisco Canada for its support of the event.

The Book Bank had a special visitor at the beginning of April – someone who has been a longtime supporter of our organization through book drives in London, Ontario.

For the past three years, Ontario’s Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, Deb Matthews, has hosted a children’s book donation drop-off at her MPP office.   This visit was the first opportunity for Kim Beatty, Founder and Executive Director of the Book Bank, to meet Deb Matthews and thank her in person.

Matthews’ efforts to collect children’s books were motivated by trips she made to First Nations communities in Northern Ontario with former Lieutenant Governor James Bartleman.  She recognized the need for books in her own backyard in London, Ontario and throughout southern Ontario.

“Literacy really is the key to success. If you can’t read and write, your options are severely limited,” said Matthews. “Books are a great passion of mine because reading opens a world of ideas and adventures, and I know the people of London will once again be generous and eager to share.”

We’d like to thank Deb Matthews for finding ways to transport the thousands of gently-used books she collected from London to our storefront at 350 Berkeley.

Our ability to open the door at 350 Berkeley Street each day to families in our community depends on the support of a fantastic group of individuals:  our volunteers.  We want to recognize the caring, creative and outstanding work of our volunteers during National Volunteer Week.

At the Book Bank, volunteers are involved in almost all components of the storefront operation.  Here’s a quick look at some of our volunteers’ responsibilities:

• Greeting customers as they come into the storefront;
• Helping new families get familiarized with the store layout;
• Answering questions and requests from children and adults – suggesting a good book, finding a specific title, recommending materials that match a child’s reading level;
• Unloading boxes and boxes of book donations from donors’ cars;
• Sorting, filtering and organizing book donations;
• Maintaining the aesthetics of the store:  creating book displays, tidying the shelves, freshening up the collection with new titles;
• Reading stories to local classes who visit the Book Bank with their teachers.

Our organization depends on a volunteer force of 35 individuals who work a weekly or bi-weekly shift.  The majority of our volunteers have a background in libraries or education and possess a passion for literacy development and reading.   Their passion for helping connect children with books is unceasing and inspiring.  We cannot offer them enough thanks.

We would not be what we are today without this team of formidable characters.  Thanks so much to our current volunteers Adrienne, Amanda, Belinda, Betty, Brenda, Carol, Carolyn, Chris, Danielle, Davia, Inga, Jane M., Janis, Jen, Jenny, Joyce, Karen, Karin G., Karin V., Katherine, Kim A., Linda, Lindsay, Lydia, Madison, Maria, Nancy, Patty, Sarah, Sharon, Tamar, Tamara, Teresa, Val and Virginia – and to anyone who has ever volunteered with our organization.