New life for old reads

To date, the Concordia Used Book Fair has raised more than $160,000 — all donated to scholarships, bursaries and the Multi-faith and Spirituality Centre’s Student Emergency and Food Fund. In 2015-16, the centre had more than 580 visits from some 266 students, and distributed $55,385 in grocery gift cards, about $95 per visit.

“It was such a huge weight off my shoulders. I could focus more on studying than on saving money,” says Brisson-McKenna of receiving her award.

Pursuing an honours bachelor degree in behavioural neuroscience in the Department of Psychology, she doesn’t have a lot of time to earn money. “It’s hard to be a student. A lot of us are struggling so these scholarships are extremely helpful,” Brisson-McKenna says.

“On the personal side, it’s really good encouragement to keep up the good work,” says Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering student Amir El Bawab. The Concordia Used Book Fair Scholarship was the first academic award he received at university.

Returning for his third year of studies after a summer internship with the communications technology company Ericsson Canada, El Bawab says he was motivated to earn the Stelvio Software Engineering Excellence Scholarship and an Undergraduate Student Research Award from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Beyond the deserving scholarship and bursary recipients that the Used Book Fair supports, its profits go to the Multi-faith and Spirituality Centre’s Student Emergency and Food Fund.

The centre’s chaplain and coordinator Ellie Hummel says her staff meets almost daily with students who need a helping hand to feed themselves and their families.

A welcoming space to explore questions of spirituality and experience interfaith, the Multi-faith and Spirituality Centre makes it easy for students to receive grocery store gift cards in tough times.

“It’s not just about the money — yes, it means a lot if you can’t eat and now you can buy groceries — but it’s also knowing that the whole community is behind you,” says Hummel.

Donations to the Student Emergency and Food Fund come from various Concordia departments and individual contributions. The Concordia Used Book Fair is the fund’s biggest single donor, giving about half of its proceeds annually.

“To me, the Concordia Used Book Fair really symbolizes what the university stands for,” says Hummel. “The person sorting books might be vice-president in some office or a student or whoever, but we all work together for a common cause — to have our students succeed.”