'Book brigade' moves 7,400 books by hand to Hintonburg store's new space

'Book brigade' moves 7,400 books by hand to Hintonburg store's new space

Around 280 volunteers formed human chain to relocate books, says co-owner

When Ottawa bookstore The Spaniel's Tale decided to move to a larger space a block away, co-owner Cole Davidson said they had no plans to host a "book brigade."

"[The idea] actually came from our customers, who brought us many, many articles of different bookstores over the years that have done it," said Davidson.

The premise is simple: volunteers form a human chain, and then pass the books down, one-by-one, until they reach their new location.

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On Saturday, that's exactly what happened in Hintonburg.

The human chain started moving books around noon on Saturday and kept going until around 2:30 p.m. (Gabrielle Huston/CBC)

Staff created two lines that stretched down Wellington Street West from the store's old location at the corner of Carruthers Avenue to the new location at the corner of Stirling Avenue.

It was around 80 or 90 metres, depending on whether you were measuring the line around the front of the store or the back.

"It's really humbling, it's really such an honour," Davidson said.

"The community has always been really supportive of us and to see them show up for us today really means a lot."

Cole Davidson is the co-owner of The Spaniel's Tale. He said Saturday the brigade was 'a big help, just in terms of not breaking our backs, for sure,' as his staff prepared to fill their new location near Stirling Avenue with thousands of books. (Gabrielle Huston/CBC)

People of all ages came out to help, including 12-year-old Harry Turk-Misener, who said a picture he drew for the bookstore when it opened in 2022 is still hanging in the kids' section.

"It just feels great when you walk in. Everyone's so friendly," he said.

Josae St Laurent was in the line right next to her adult son, who told her about the book brigade.

"I think it's good to encourage local commerce, local stores, and I think it's a good initiative for the neighbourhood to get people together," said St Laurent.

Josae St Laurent told Radio-Canada in French that she didn't care if the human chain was the fastest method to move books; she was happy to be outside in the sun and meeting new people. (Gabrielle Huston/CBC)

One intersection had to be blocked off to allow the book brigade to get the front steps of the new location. (Gabrielle Huston/CBC)

Ashley Graham told CBC she was finding new books to buy later as they passed through her hands.

"I wanted to help a local business, somebody who does a lot for the community, who supports different Canadian authors, and ensure that they get help," Graham said.

"They're a growing business and it's great to be a part."

Linda Brown, a frequent customer of The Spaniel's Tale, called the brigade "spectacular."

"I just think that reading is a great way to learn new things. It gets us maybe away from our screens a little bit, and it just makes us imagine all kinds of different worlds," Brown said.

Linda Brown, an avid book lover and participant in Saturday's book brigade, told Radio-Canada how, when she was younger, the first thing her brothers would ask her when they called was what she was reading. (Gabrielle Huston/CBC)

Volunteers in each line shared comments and recommendations with each other about the books they passed along. (Gabrielle Huston/CBC)

When volunteers stepped out of line for a break, people would redistribute themselves along the chain (or just stretch a little further) to keep passing down books. (Gabrielle Huston/CBC)

One big benefit of the book brigade, Davidson said, was that all the books arrived at their new shelves in alphabetical order.

With the new store more than twice the size of their old location, Davidson said The Spaniel's Tale will be able to host more events — like book signings and "candlelight" shopping nights — and offer more gift-type items for sale.

Around 280 volunteers turned out by the end of the event, by Davidson's count.

He said they moved more than 7,400 books in two-and-a-half hours. That wasn't all the books in the old store, but he said the rest will get moved over the course of the week.

The new location at 1109 Wellington St. W. will have its grand opening on Oct. 17.

After the book brigade wrapped up, volunteers took a moment to peek at the newly-filled shelves in the larger location. (Gabrielle Huston/CBC)

Gabrielle is a journalist for CBC News in Ottawa and Sudbury who loves to learn new things. She has a bachelor's degree in the humanities and journalism from Carleton University and has previously written for tech outlets like TheGamer and MobileSyrup. Reach out to her for any reason at gabrielle.huston@cbc.ca.