For an organization that is only three and a half years old, the Canadian Independent Booksellers Association seems surprisingly robust. “There are certainly a lot of challenges to running a bookstore in Canada, but we as an association are seeing growing membership, and seeing the enthusiasm members have and the support they are getting from their member communities,” says Lauren Carter, CIBA’s executive director.
The ability to launch a professional organization in the middle of a pandemic speaks to the dedication and perseverance of the CIBA team. Carter credits inaugural executive director Doug Minnett (who is also the founder of the Bookshelf bookstore in Guelph, Ont.) and the founding board for their efforts in getting the association off the ground.
Carter is also optimistic about the state of independent bookselling in Canada, noting that there have been new stores opening in various regions, including shops in smaller communities, like Betty’s Bookshelf in St. Marys, Ont. And they are being spurred on by enthusiasm from Canadian publishers.
“Publishers are seeing growth in the independent market,” Carter says. “They’re leaning into the channel because they see its strength.”
Which is not to say there are no challenges. One of the major hurdles involves shipping costs and other associated supply chain issues. Shipping in Canada is expensive, in part due to the lack of a media mail rate of the kind that exists in the U.S. And climate change is also having an impact.
“Our supplier relations committee hears a lot about concerns around climate change and its impact on the supply chains,” Carter says. “Flooding and forest fires.” In 2021, Vancouver was effectively cut off from the rest of Canada by unprecedented flooding.
The cost of books is also rising. That puts indies, which are not able to steeply discount titles like Indigo and other big-box stores do, in a tight spot.
CIBA has also had difficulties getting French-language books into the English-language market. The reasons for this are varied: English-language booksellers don’t have access to English-speaking sales reps or translated data for French-language books, the discounts are lower than from English-language publishers, return policies differ, and the cost of freight from Quebec is higher.
“It does seem a real gap exists right now,” Carter says. “And it does prevent English-language booksellers from leaning into institutional sales. It also prevents their being able to serve their French community members and also the French immersion market. So the initial push from CIBA has been improving access to French children’s books and then hopefully moving up to the whole catalog.”
A much bigger CIBA priority, though, is launching a conference for members. “There is a strong appetite for an in-person gathering,” Carter says.
Canadian booksellers and publishers have not had a dedicated national trade fair since Reed Exhibitions discontinued BookExpo Canada in 2009. The Canadian Booksellers Association mounted a series of smaller conferences in the years following, until that organization was absorbed by the Canada Retail Council in 2012, and in 2014, there was the one-and-done Inspire! Toronto International Book Fair. Since then, independent booksellers across the country have been starved for an opportunity to meet in person and discuss issues important to the sector.
But Carter says CIBA isn’t quite there yet. “The association is spending this time building our organizational sustainability and building out our budgets and building out our revenue-generating projects so we can take on bigger projects like an in-person gathering. We hear from our members that is a top priority.”
In the short term, Carter is bullish about the relative health of the independent bookselling sector in Canada and excited about this season’s releases in particular. “I think we’ve got a really strong season ahead,” she says. “Which is great for readers and great for booksellers.”
