Big Book Sale starts new chapter to support university programming for seniors

Despite funding cuts, the president of the Seniors’ University Group says the hard work and dedication of the group’s board is keeping the Lifelong Learning Centre alive.

“Really, our only chance was to look at this as an opportunity,” Neale Partington said.

The Seniors’ University Group took over the responsibilities of creating courses and registering SUG members from the University of Regina’s Continuing Centre for Education after funding cuts in June of last year. The educational programming for seniors was dramatically scaled back to lunch-hour classes by the University of Regina due to financial concerns.

News of funding drawbacks came a week before the 2023 Big Book Sale. Partington said people’s reactions varied from anger to defeat.

The Big Book Sale sets up for the 2023 sale at the Highland Curling Club. (The Big Book Sale Website)

“I guess I’ve got a bit of a stubborn streak and I said, ‘Not on my watch,’ ” he said. “We are going to finish the book sale.”

The Big Book Sale previously supplemented funds to help the university operate the LLC. Now, those funds are part of the driving force that is helping keep the SUG alive.

According to Partington, the book sale’s popularity has brought extra cash for them. Over the past two years, the sale has brought in $100,000.

The sale relies on donations of books, puzzles, magazine, games, DVDs, CDs, and LPs. According to the Big Book Sale website, the sale collects 229,000 items each year. The average cost per item stays at a cheap $1.50.

This year’s sale is set for June 26-29. Donation drop-off dates have been set from June 5-24 at the Highland Curling Club.

Partington said the funds will play a bigger role this year in helping keep seniors in the classroom.

“Right now, we need to have the discussion of, ‘How much money do we need to go forward?’ ” he said. “I think that we need to have enough to keep going for a year or two at least if the book sale flops.”

Partington said the revenue made from the classes is going right back into the SUG’s pockets. Volunteers from the Seniors’ University board and the Big Book Sale spent last fall figuring out how to keep the seniors educational program afloat.

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In January, the SUG and the University of Regina signed a Memorandum of Understanding guaranteeing classroom space free of charge for the next five years.

Partington said the MOU eliminated another significant expense, but there is still more work to do.

“We are just busy getting our feet back on the ground,” he said. “We’ve got to completely restore our infrastructure on our nickel now as opposed to the university’s.”

Partington said the SUG still has a great relationship with the university’s continuing centre for education.

Funds from the Big Book Sale will go towards paying for a new course registration system and other expenses. As well, hiring a new program coordinator will help research classes and book instructors.

Partington remains optimistic about rebuilding.

“Now we’ve got a chance — and really got a breather — to come up with something more new and inventive,” he said. “If the old stuff is working, keep the old stuff that’s working going.”

The SUG’s pre-pandemic membership sat around 180 members. Slowly, the program has grown to 580 members.

At its height, the SUG had 60 classes. In January, it had 19 classes. For the spring/summer semester it will have around 15 classes.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story contained inaccurate information about the Life Long Learning Centre.