Penguin Random House | Toronto, 09/04/2020

Canada Celebrates Independent Bookstore Day

Canada’s book community celebrated the country’s indie book retailers last Saturday, on Canadian Independent Bookstore Day. Since June, Penguin Random House Canada has been presenting independent booksellers through its own channels, with a focus on bookstores owned by members of the BIPOC community (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color).

Last Saturday, Canada celebrated its diverse and active bookseller community on Canadian Independent Bookstore Day (CIBD) – and Penguin Random House joined the celebration as one of the independent book trade’s most important partners. In the past, CIBD was traditionally held in April, with Canadian readers flocking to the country’s many small, owner-managed bookstores on that day. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, CIBD was moved to August 28 this year, and parts of it were held virtually. The Canadian publishing group had been preparing for CIBD with its own activities since June. For example, it used its various channels to inform readers about independent bookstores in their vicinity, and hosted a competition in which readers were called on to post what they particularly like about their favorite bookstore. Penguin Random House Canada’s Indie Feature Fridays series received a lot of attention. Every Friday, it presented a different independent bookstore that is BIPOC-owned or is particularly supportive of the interests of these groups.

In this way, readers learned more about A Different Booklist's Itah Sadu and Ian Williams, Patricia Massy of Massy Books and Emily Dundas Oke of the Massy Arts Society, Knowledge Bookstore's Sean Liburd and Eternity Martis, Notability Bookstore's Shevaun Pierre, Hilary Atleo of Iron Dog Books and Billy-Ray Belcourt, Glass Bookshop's Jason Purcell and Vivek Shraya, Confidence Survival of Sankofa Bookstore and David Chariandy, King’s Co-op Bookstore's Paul MacKay and Desmond Cole, and Khary Mathurin of Another Story and Tanaz Bhathena. On Canadian Independent Bookstore Day itself, the publishing group then hosted a discussion between Samra Habib, winner of this year’s Canada Reads competition and Amanda Brugel, who had championed the book. They talked about their experiences with Canada Reads and what Canadian Independent Bookstore Day means to them.