This had been a shitty year for me, even before the COVID pandemic hit.
Coteau Books, which was a long-standing literary press in Canada for nearly half a century, and which I’d served on the board of directors of for nearly a decade, entered bankruptcy protection in late February.
I’ll likely do a longer post about some of what happened at Coteau at some point far far down the road.
But the main thing to mention, at least from my perspective as someone who was at the table as the entire situation developed, is that this bankruptcy happened due to a long series of unfortunate events, some within board control but many beyond our control; it was not the fault of any one individual or any one decision; and it was reflective of numerous arts and/or book-related organizations that have gone through similar financial difficulties in Saskatchewan and across Canada in the past but which almost always manage to pull out of the nose dive – something Coteau simply wasn’t able to do in the end despite incredible efforts of many involved.
I guess the other thing to note is this isn’t a convenience store or a clothing store going bankrupt – this is a part of Saskatchewan’s cultural fabric gone. I was as excited for some of our upcoming titles for this fall as I was for any Coteau had *ever* released and I only hope most of them can find new homes with other publishers.
Anyhow, one of the steps in this bankruptcy process is to have an auction of Coteau’s assets including computers, office equipment and a ton (literally!) of books.
Shea and I have tried to do regular video chats with various friends and family throughout this pandemic but last night, we decided to do something a bit different – instead of a sustained conversation with one person or group, we decided to try “chat roulette” where we’d message random people on our Facebook friend list to see if they could have a quick chat.
That’s how we ended up randomly chatting with one of the coolest people I met during my England Exchange in 1995. In the pre-social media days, I lost track of him but eventually found him by reaching out to the alumni association of his college.
We caught up by email but it never occurred to me to do a video chat – until last night. He said he was disappointed as his wife and kids were around last night but he was home alone but we still had a great time catching up, comparing notes on Living La Vida Covida, and reminiscing about our England adventures.
One small thing I hope Covid does is remind us how connected the world is and how easy it is to stay in contact with people we might not otherwise.
This was the wrap-up for a major region-wide literacy program called “Time To Read” (with a slogan “Reader Pride”, a pun on Saskatchewan’s well-known “Rider Pride”) that I was involved with in my first job after I graduated from library school.
It’s crazy to think how much in this photo is now being impacted by the coronavirus – Saskatchewan schools has officially announced this school year is over, the CFL is asking for bailouts and confirming the season is basically cancelled, even seeing shots of kids standing so close together feels strange and dangerous.
But one thing that hasn’t changed is knowing that no matter what happens, the public library is a part of the communities they serve to promote reading, literacy and learning – even if an in-person wrap-up party with local celebrities isn’t possible these days.
