Funding for Booksellers in Guelph

Local Guelph Authors and Lloyd; from left to right: Ben Minett, Barb Minett, Madhur Anand, Lloyd Longfield, Justin Davis, and Eric Walters.

Funding for Booksellers in Guelph

Today, on behalf of the Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriguez, Lloyd Longfield, Member of Parliament for Guelph, announced at The Bookshelf that the Government of Canada will provide $156,575 to the Canadian Independent Booksellers Association (CIBA) to increase their ability to sell books online across Canada in 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 as part of the larger national announcement.

Funding will go to this national organization of booksellers to promote Canadian sales with a national digital marketing campaign. The CIBA works to promote programs and policies that strengthen Canadian independent booksellers in our country while contributing to Canadian community, literature and culture.v

Also announced today was local funding in the amount of $23,024 for the Bookshelf Guelph. This is the first time funding has been distributed through the Government of Canada’s new Support for Booksellers component of the Canada Book Fund. This new component will provide Canadian booksellers with two years of support to improve their online business models where it will be the most effective and to grow their online Canadian book sales. Funding amounts were based on past sales of Canadian-authored books.

Quotes

“Local bookstores are an important link connecting Canadians to our stories. Supporting our booksellers in growing their online channel is an investment in our cultural outreach, but also in the future of our authors and publishers. They will be able to reach more readers across Canada, wherever they are located, to have access to a wide range of Canadian books."

—Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Canadian Heritage

"I am thrilled to announce these financial supports for local booksellers who play an important role in our community by introducing us to diverse authors and compelling stories that are rooted in Canadian culture. During the pandemic, we saw local booksellers, such as the Bookshelf go above and beyond to support our Canadian authors.”

—Lloyd Longfield, Member of Parliament for Guelph

“The Bookshelf would like to give a sincere thank you to the Department of Canadian Heritage for a grant which recognizes independent booksellers ability to promote and sell Canadian authored books. Did you know that out of all avenues Canadian authors use to sell or lend their books, Independent booksellers as a percentage of sales or circulation, get more Canadian authors into the hands of Canadian's than anybody else? We have loved our job over the past few years and are deeply devoted to our community but it has not been easy. This grant is going to help give a distinctly Canadian flavour to the books we offer and improve our communications between Canadian authors and the Canadian public. “

-Ben Minett, President of the Bookshelf and Treasurer of the Canadian Independent Booksellers Association

Quick Facts

The Canada Book Fund ensures access to a diverse range of Canadian-authored books nationally and internationally, by investing in a strong book industry that publishes and markets Canadian books.

Each year, the Canada Book Fund helps publishers produce around 6,500 new Canadian-authored books, employ close to 2,500 people and generate $400 million in sales, of which $125 million are export sales to nearly 100 international markets.

Budget 2021 announced an investment of $32.1 million over two years to help bookstores increase online sales. This funding will be delivered in 2022-23 and 2023-24.

The new Support for Booksellers component of the Canada Book Fund was launched in March 2022. It is a 2-year program component that will provide support in 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 to help Canadian booksellers increase their online sales for Canadian-authored print books and improve their business model for online sales.

Support for Booksellers funds are attributed based on past sales of Canadian-authored print books for a set reference year. This will direct more funding to booksellers with a proven track record of bringing Canadian authors to Canadian readers.