Regent Park’s Non-profit bookstore opens magical window for children

Rene Johnston/torstar news service

Kim Beatty reads to children at her store in Regent’s Park.

Published: November 28, 2008 1:00 a.m.

Last modified: November 28, 2008 12:06 a.m.

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Regent Park doesn’t have a Mabel’s Fables. But it does have the Children’s Book Bank — with the added bonus that all of the titles are free.

Since opening its doors last May, the non-profit bookstore has already given out 15,000.

“I wanted to create an oasis, a magical place that kids associate with reading,” says founder Kim Beatty. “Kids in this neighbourhood should have their own Mabel’s Fables or Flying Dragon.

The Children’s Book Bank offers recycled books — in great condition, donated mostly through school book drives — and is set up just like Mabel’s Fables or the Flying Dragon, two well-known children’s bookstores in Toronto.

Books are organized by theme and turned out on the shelves so kids aren’t simply looking at spines, but are actually checking out covers. There are a lot of current titles and a few favourites, like the Little House on the Prairie series or Archie comics. There are comfy couches, a craft area and a cozy front window seat, with lots of space for singsongs and storytime.

The book bank — located on Berkeley Street, across from a public library — is staffed by volunteers, most of them retired teachers or librarians. Many visitors are new Canadians, or families who otherwise couldn’t afford books.

Beatty, a litigation lawyer, said she was sitting at her desk in 2006 when she had the brain wave for the book bank. She’d organized book drives over the years for inner-city kids, and was involved with a furniture bank.

Her family got the book bank up and running with the help of a core group of 12; then a handful of corporate and in-kind donations started rolling in. School-based book drives began in October 2007 and by January alone they’d collected 70,000 books.