Liz Gilbert is the President of the Friends of the Kelly Library. She has an undergraduate degree from St. Michael’s College (1975) and graduated with a Master of Library Science (1977) from the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Library Science, as was it then known. She has worked in public, business, government and school libraries throughout her career. Now retired, she volunteers with the Friends of the Kelly Library and the Avenue Road Food Bank. She also spends as much time as possible with any, some, or all of her 10 grandchildren.
The 2024 sale will take place from Wednesday, September 25th until Saturday, September 28th in the Kelly Cafe, located on the ground floor of the library.
From Wednesday to Friday the sale will be open from 10 am until 8 pm and on Saturday from 10 am until 1 pm. On Wednesday, there is a $5 admission fee (students free with ID). Admission is free all other days of the sale.
The Friends of the John M. Kelly Library is a volunteer group committed to ensuring that the library continues its vital mission of supporting the personal and intellectual endeavours of all those who study, research and work at the University of St. Michael’s College, now, and in the future.
The Friends work year-round to prepare items for the annual College book sale. This year, 2024, marks the 20th anniversary of this book sale. All proceeds from these sales have been dedicated to preserving and enhancing the library’s collections, and supporting programming, and have contributed to the improvement of the library’s physical space, furnishings and technological equipment. In the past 20 years of book sales, the Friends have raised more than half a million dollars towards these goals. The Friends of the Kelly Library have recently funded, at the request of the university and library staff, the newly designed and renovated Print Studio, which is now a teaching space. The Friends also funded the design, renovation and furnishing of a main floor space (room 105), which can be used for lectures, special events, classes, meetings and quiet study.
Last year the Friends began organizing pop-up sales of items in the inventory; the next pop-up sale will be in November. During the year a $1 table can be found in the Kelly Café; its stock rotates monthly. You may well find some items of interest on this table. And where else will you find books for $1?
The Friends also support lectures and special events organized by the Kelly Library and College staff. They have established partnerships with the Out of the Cold Program at St. Basil’s Church, The Friends of the Toronto Public Library, and with the USMC Campus Ministry.
You can find the Friends on their Instagram and Facebook pages. Tune in to hear what’s happening with the work of the group.
We invite you to volunteer with the Friends as book sale volunteers, as sorters for donated items and as drivers to pick up donations which cannot be dropped off at the library. We welcome the gift of your time, energy and expertise. We can be contacted at kelly.friends@utoronto.ca. It’s a great way to connect with other alumni and to meet the college faculty, staff and students.
We invite you to drop by this year’s sale, which will be located on campus in the John M. Kelly Library. We have lots of great books and treasures this year! Our philosophy, classics and theology/religion collections are, as always, a highlight. We also have lots of fiction, literature, poetry, history, Canadiana, travel, cookbooks, art books, Celtic studies, foreign languages, children’s books, books about books, arts & entertainment, some very exciting scarce and/or signed surprises, as well as plenty of specially priced finds to keep you coming back for more – not to mention sci-fi, romance, mysteries, CDs/DVDs and much, much more, all competitively priced. Our collection of early printed and antiquarian books is larger than usual this year and we have a very exciting group of books – many signed – from the Natalie Zemon Davis estate, along with some wonderful books from the Dennis Reid estate. There is something for everyone at great prices – a true book lover’s delight! A link for hours and details can be found on the Kelly Library, USMC website here.
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