Ask...and ye shall receive

Most of our volunteers are avid readers! About two years ago I received a donation of some books to use as give-aways to our volunteer core. I wasn't sure how to disburse them so we started doing a draw where a volunteer's name goes in for each shift that he/she does in a month, upping their chances the more they volunteer. In fact, reading is so loved here that about 3 or 4 years ago, a number of us staff and volunteers started up a book club, that still meets throughout the year for a fun evening.

This proved to be a hit! The volunteers were excited for their new books and it was a fun surprise to give them.

I have had the joy of giving away hilarious books along the lines of Doreen Orion's "Queen of the Road" and informative books such as Sheryl Kayne's books like "Volunteer Vacations Across America: Immersion Travel USA".

Recently, I was almost out of books and so got on the internet to see what I could find from Canadian authors that might be of interest to our volunteers. I also asked our Katimavik volunteer, Kevin, to do the same. The two of us spent a bit of time online and were excited with some of the choices available - Canadian authors write some amazing stuff!

Kevin was able to get us donated some fiction books from authors such as Cory Doctorow and Kelley Armstrong. These look like great reads and will be well received by the volunteers that choose them, no doubt! As well, we got some copies of the Lethbridge cemetery book written by colleague, and Lethbridge Historical Society president, Belinda Crowson.

I was excited to find the website for Calgary Authors, a friendly giving group, I was soon to find out. I sent them an email explaining my request and within a week, literally, I had a Calgary author (Jeane Watier) in Lethbridge dropping off the books at the museum for me! Donations came from people such as Penny Cote, Sharon Montgomery, Jeane, Susanne Alexander-Heaton, Brenda S. Mason, Fred Allin Elford, Helena Kalivoda, and Coral Sterling! Book after book going onto my shelf with the choices for the volunteers to pick from! It was awesome and amazing.

The books from the Calgary Authors tend to be more non-fiction and look very interesting - from "The ABC Field Guide to Faeries" to a poetry book called "Sometimes I Fly". From a book for all ages called "Your Invisible Bodies" to "Redefining Relgion For Our Modern World" - I definitely now have something for everyone!

If you love reading, I would definitely recommend checking out http://www.calgaryauthors.com/ and seeing the diversity of the books listed there. The blogs, email addresses, etc for all of the authors are given. I'll post some reviews later this year as the donated books get chosen by our winning volunteers!

THANKS CALGARYAUTHORS!