The Children's Hospital Book Market is hosting a special one-day pop-up sale this weekend to raise critical funds for sick and injured kids.
The one-day special event will feature a variety of genres, including fiction, mystery, romance, cookbooks, science, travel, computer and university titles.
Carol Irving, volunteer coordinator for the Children's Hospital Book Market, says she finds that the public is starving for books.
"We typically in the past have had only two big sales a year, one in April and one in September," said Irving. "So we found by having these smaller sales that we are attracting a large crowd of people. And they're very thankful for us doing this because people who bought books in September, by February, when we had a pop-up sale, they were starving for books and just very, very, very thankful that we were offering this to the public. So we're experimenting."
The book sale will also feature all things music, with everything from CDs to DVDs and LPs to a wide selection of how-to books for singing and playing instruments. There will also be a wide selection of puzzles.
"I think that COVID had a great deal to do with the public's desire for puzzles," said Irving. "And so we would often have puzzles delivered in with the books. So we thought, okay, why don't we see if we can do something with this? This time around, I think we have about 190 boxes of puzzles."
After over 30 years of volunteering with the book market, Irving says she still loves being a part of the sale.
"My favourite part is working with the volunteers, appreciating the support that they give to me to make all of this happen, watching the public and the thrill that they experience when they find a book that they're looking for," said Iriving. "I think that those are the most important two items for me, and I guess the third item would be the fact that we can help children in need. That's very important."
All of the funds raised at the event will go towards Child Life programming at the Children's Hospital in Winnipeg.
Child Life programming provides comfort and support to children and their families during extended hospital stays. It includes music therapy, the library program, CHTV (the hospital’s closed-circuit television station for kids) and a playroom with toys, games, crafts and a mini hospital where children can play out their experiences with treatments and procedures.
The Children's Hospital Book Market summer pop-up will take place on Saturday, Aug. 16, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at St. Vital Centre.