Summerside bookstore giving newcomers free books about Canada

When a customer tells Nancy Quinn they are new to Canada she often asks what brought them to the country and typicallygives them a free book.

Quinn owns Seaside Booksin Summerside, P.E.I. Last year, sheheld an open house at the store for those who had nowhere else to go on Christmas Day.

Due to COVID-19 she is not hosting an open house this year but she is trying to keep hospitality alive.

Now, as the holiday season kicks off, she is offering a free book about Canada to any newcomer who visits the store.

"All through the year I've been putting aside the books on Canada," Quinn said.

"What I have decided to do is give it out to people who are spending their first winter here."

Quinn tweeted about what she has been doing and wanted to catch the eye of newcomer groups and the government, she said.

"It's nice to get to know about the place you are going to be living in," she said.

"It seems like a simple enough gesture to create a really nice feeling for somebody who has left their motherland."

Quinn said people are often surprised when she gives them a book for free.

"I'm looking for my Summerside community to come and clean me out of these Canada books," Quinn said.

People who may have noticed newcomers in their community can come down to the bookstore, grab a book and give it to their new neighbour and possibly strike up a conversation with someone new, she said.

"Really what I want to do is make some newcomers happy."

Books can be picked up at her shop on Water Street.

"It's been a hard year for everybody," Quinn said. "I would just like to find ways to make it better."

The P.E.I. Association for Newcomers to Canada shared Quinn's calloutto its Facebook page.

"We appreciate everyone who steps up to help make newcomers feel more welcome and included in Island life," officials with the organization said in an email.

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