Surprise Donation Benefits the Lethbridge Public Library

LETHBRIDGE – The Lethbridge Public Library received an unexpectedly generous gift last week.
 
It originally reached out to Chizine Press to attend the annual Word on the Street Festival. But the national publisher said it wouldn’t be able to make it.
 
Instead, the fantasy, science fiction and horror publisher from Toronto donated nearly 4,000 books to use for prizes and other projects.
 
“It happens that their distributor was moving warehouses, so they had some books that needed a new home,” explained Elisabeth Hegerat, Associate Director of Service Development. “We certainly weren’t expecting the incredibly generous quantity that showed up on our doorstep! It was just pretty astounding.”
 
The three pallets that arrived contained between 12 and 200 copies of 49 different titles. Hegerat added that the donations will be used as prizes for the Word on the Street scavenger hunt, and there will be a specific Chizine section in the Friends of the Public Library Book and DVD Sale.
 
Some of them will also be used for projects the library has planned, or shared with other organizations in the Chinook Arch Region.
 
The sixth annual Word on the Street Festival is set for Saturday, September 24, from 11-am to 5-pm in the Main Branch parking lot. It’ll feature visits from a number of authors, fun family activities, music and food vendors.