Brantford Symphony Orchestra (BSO) Book Fair Committee has been preparing for its upcoming annual book sale, which begins on Wednesday, April 22, 2026.
This year, the book fair will once again be taking place at Wilfrid Laurier University’s One Market building in Brantford, and will run until Saturday, April 25.
During the four-day sale, shoppers can drop by anytime from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and on Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The book fair, which is known as the largest second-hand book sale in Ontario, has been up and running since 1964 and serves as the largest contributor of funds for the BSO to operate and put on concerts.
“The funds from the book fair really are the number one support for the Brantford Symphony Orchestra,” said Penny MacKenzie, who co-chairs the book fair committee alongside Joann Alho. “We raised $60,000 in 2025, and we expect that we’ll do even better in 2026 because this will be the second year in the same place.”
Noting that the book fair has been held at different venues throughout its existence, MacKenzie said that she and the rest of the committee are thankful to Laurier University for providing them with the space.
“The university has been brilliant in helping us. They let us store our tables here and that’s cut down our costs in terms of moving, but they’re also just wonderfully supportive. This venue really gives us so much room, and it’s bright and it’s clean…it’s just fantastic,” she said. “I think the students are excited to have a book fair in the building too. One of our new innovations this year is we have a free table for books that we don’t think we’ll find an audience for our general customers, but will be great for students, and so they go through them almost every night before they head out.”
With thousands of books on hand, shoppers will be able to discover a variety of genres from cooking to gardening, education, history and religion, self-help, music, sports, romance, fiction, non-fiction, travel, biographies and many more.
“There really is no genre that isn’t available,” said MacKenzie with a chuckle. “We also have a wonderful section of ‘oldies but goodies.’ Those are the books that you won’t see in a bookstore and that are out of print, including a first edition of The Wizard of Oz.”
Laura Kittridge, who has been a volunteer for the book fair for four years now, has been tasked with going through and sorting those ‘oldies but goodies,’ as well as finding a price for them.
“We look them up on Google search. It has a function that lets you take a photograph of the book and search for it. It comes up with places where you can purchase the book and the one we really rely on for pricing references is AbeBooks,” she said. “It’s quite the process, but we also look at the condition of the book, so we check to see if it’s smelly or has mold as well, just because we don’t want to be selling that to people. But we’ve acquired some interesting old books, and things like a whole selection of old postcards too.
Shoppers will also be able to find a wide variety of puzzles, vinyls, CDs and DVDs, crafts and much more.
Given that there are thousands of items that will be up for sale, the committee co-chair said the book sale wouldn’t be possible without the well over 50 volunteers helping to prepare everything.
“We really need them,” she said. “And what’s great this year is that we have so many volunteers that for the first time in the history of the book fair, we’re able to alphabetize the fiction section. It’s just wonderful, and so people will be able to come in and find their favourite authors on the table without having to really hunt for them.”
When asked her opinion on what makes books so special, MacKenzie said it was their ability to transport people and open their minds.
“There are some cynical people who say that the time of books is over, that everyone can read online, and that libraries are antiquated…but they just don’t know books,” she said. “There is nothing as rewarding as having something in your hand that can take you to another world or another place, something that can open your mind to different ideas. There’s really nothing like a book in terms of the power to translate and transform.”
While the book fair is fast approaching, volunteers will continue to collect donated titles until Friday, April 17. Books can be dropped off from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Volunteers will be set up outside on the street near the Dalhousie Street entrance to One Market, near the intersection of Dalhousie and Market Streets.
It should be noted that National Geographics, Encyclopedias, Reader’s Digest, library discards, old text books, VHS tapes, cassettes and magazines are not being accepted.
MacKenzie added that for those interested in attending the book fair, the committee is accepting payment of cash, cheques and debit.
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
