(The volunteers at the ReStore Reads Book Fair in Stittsville, were kept busy from August 8th to 10th answering questions and ringing up the book sales. Volunteers Robin and Shelley greeted everyone with a smile and reminded customers to enter the draw to win a gift basket. Photos: Stittsville Central)
With over 10,000 books donated for the ReStore Reads Book Fair held from August 8th to 10th at the Iber Road location, everyone attending could find new, nearly-new and gently used titles at this year’s sale. Volunteers sought book donations from the public and then sorted and categorized the more than 10,000 titles received. There were books on shelves, on tables, in nooks and crannies – literally on every available space.
You could choose from a wide variety of gently used paperbacks, books from history to mystery, trade publications, hardcovers, kids’ books to Canadian authors and all were available at great prices. The selection of fiction and non-fiction were definitely high-volume, with a great selection going to new homes. The 2025 book sale was the largest ever for the Stittsville Habitat ReStore, and was entirely volunteer-led.
This year there was a new feature, several notable authors from Ottawa and surrounding areas were invited to attend throughout the weekend to offer their books for sale and discuss their work. Among them were Amelinda Berube, Peggy Blair, Don Butler, Kate Heartfield, Darren Jerome, Amy Tector and John W. Partington. Attendees had a chance to win some of these authors’ novels as part of the gift basket draws that all book fair customers could enter. The authors were at the front of the store with a corner set-up announcing them, along with an antique ‘Royal’ manual typewriter that many author’s used in past years.
Sara Cooper, CEO of Habitat for Humanity Greater Ottawa, shared with us, “What a weekend at our Stittsville ReStore! Over 2,000 visitors, over $10,000 in book sales, 7 local authors signing books and more volunteers than we could count. Thank you to Glen Gower and Bruce Fanjoy for stopping by to support Habitat for Humanity Greater Ottawa. The ReStore Reads book fair is 100% volunteer led event, we are so grateful to have such an army of talented and committed volunteers who support us.”
Robert Bostelaar, a Volunteer and member of the ReStore Reads Book Fair Committee was pleased to say, “the books sold at the event all are donated by the public. The generous response to this year’s call for donations played a big part in the book fair’s success.”
Ashley Loiselle, one of the lead volunteer organizers happily said, “This summer’s ReStore Reads book fair has been a great success. We were able to introduce more books than ever before and host local authors and local dignitaries, thanks to the vision and hard work of volunteers as well as staff at Habitat for Humanity. The meaningful response we have had from customers over the course of this event has motivated us to continue improving upon the concept.”
Ashley added, “our aims for the next ReStore Reads book fair include providing an even more substantial inventory of quality books for our customers, achieving a higher fundraising target for Habitat’s local building projects, and familiarizing more of the community with ReStores’ offerings. We are grateful for the continued support shown for this volunteer-led event, and look forward to putting on the next one.”
(Peggy Blair an author and publisher, was present on both Saturday and Sunday selling her latest suspense novel, The Bone Finder. She enjoyed being part of the book fair and meeting so many people.)
We caught up with local author Peggy Blair, in between her speaking to attendees, who was selling her novels, including her latest ‘The Bone-Finder’ – a gripping tale of a returning character, Ottawa homicide detective Charlie Pike, who has been seconded by the OPP and sent to his former hometown of Manomin Bay. He had to investigate and search for the bodies of an alleged murder by a farmer of two Ojibway boys. The book takes a twist when Charlie gets pulled in to another murder that has occurred while he is there – the dead victim’s dog is more than a pet, she’s integral to the investigation. Peggy is also the founder of ReBound Press, an avenue for independent Canadian mystery authors to get published.
We may have helped contribute to the book fair’s success by walking out with a bagful of books that included political biographies, history, mystery paperbacks and an autographed copy of Peggy Blair’s book, among others.
Proceeds go directly to Habitat Greater Ottawa to support the organization in building more safe and affordable homes that provide a solid foundation for local families.
About Habitat for Humanity ReStore
Habitat for Humanity Greater Ottawa runs one of Ottawa’s largest social enterprises, the ReStore, a home improvement retailer that accepts and resells new and gently used furniture, appliances, décor, clothing, home improvement building materials and more donated by corporate partners and members of the community. The ReStore is open to the public and all profits from the ReStore go directly back into funding Habitat Greater Ottawa operations thereby helping more families access safe, decent and affordable housing. For more information visit: restoregoshop.ca.
I was a volunteer for this great event and we were so happy to see the support from our community! I greeted people at the door and directed them to the new authors and the book fair section and many people came up to me asking whether the proceeds really were non-profit and going to help build houses. They had been “burned” with other supposed non-profit centers and I could say that ALL of the proceeds from the ReStore goes to help Habitat for Humanity! Thank you!