During one of our regular chats, we talked about aging parents and, being a librarian to the core, I ended up recommending a book that I had just read myself which I thought she might be interested in.
She put it on hold and even made a point of coming over to show me when it came in earlier this week! 🙂
Though this recent clip only popped up on my Facebook feed the other day, it did remind me of my time in Alberta (2001-2004) when I worked with the Writers Guild of Alberta where part of my work included helping jointly plan the annual Alberta Book Awards with the Book Publishers Association of Alberta.
Haven’t watched it yet but I suspect a lot of issues that existed back then – lack of government support, lack of skilled staff willing to work for low wages, lack of consumers buying local books (though perhaps this has changed a bit with the recent “Elbows Up” movement?), growth of self-publishing and vanity publishing options, competition from new entertainment options such as at-home streaming services and so on.
Ironically, a few years later, I’d find myself back in Saskatchewan, working in libraries but also serving on the Board of Coteau Books. And ten years after joining that board, being one of the two Board Members who most directly dealt with the bankruptcy of the organization once that became an unavoidable reality.
One of my favourite traditions on this blog for my least favourite events (hopefully today’s snow won’t stay since we have plus temps in the forecast for the next week or more!)
