Twice Upon a Time is celebrating its first anniversary this Thursday, July 9. The 20th Century Boys will be rocking Maxwell’s, 340 Elgin St. at 8pm. $15 at the door. Come join the party!
If you have some children’s books you would like to donate, bring them along. Twice Upon a Time needs books for kids under twelve in excellent condition - French or English.
Twice Upon a Time opened Ottawa’s first pop-up free bookstore for kids in May 2014 in the Vanier/Overbook neighbourhood. Since then, this entirely volunteer run not-for-profit group has expanded its outreach to families of young children through partnerships with Heartwood House, the Overbrook Community Centre, the housing support office of the Taggart Family YM-YWCA, Ottawa Community Housing at Confederation Court, the Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa, Habitat for Humanity, the Children’s Aid Society, the Vanier Early Years Centre, and the Ottawa Community Coalition for Literacy.
To date more than 2000 books in English and French have been given away. Many book loving babies, preschoolers, primary and elementary school age kids, parents and caregivers, have made repeat visits to the pop-up free bookstores to pick out books they can keep forever.
“This first year with Twice Upon a Time has been a dream come true,” said Alexandra Yarrow, founder and President. “We all remember our own best loved books from childhood – Curious George, Harry Potter, Green Eggs and Ham. Ottawa has a great public library system, but kids still need some books at home they can keep. Books are expensive, so we are thrilled by the response from our community who have donated their books, their time, and their money to help Twice Upon a Time make it possible for all children in Ottawa to own their favorite books.”
Four Ottawa families moved into their new Habitat for Humanity homes in early December. Last month, each of the younger children received a “welcome home” present from Twice Upon a Time - free books! Read more about the hard work these families did to make their dream of owning a home a reality.
On December 7, Twice Upon
a Time hosted a holiday concert, along with a bake and craft sale. A great time was had by all. Voices in Harmony had us up on our feet and waving our arms as we sang a hilarious version of the Twelve Days of Christmas. We snapped up beautiful one-of-a-kind crafts for special people on our gift list while we devoured addictive homemade toffee. And over $2350 was raised for Twice Upon a Time.
The money raised will help Twice Upon a Time achieve our goals for 2015:
The fundraiser was a huge success thanks to our incredible volunteers who worked day and night to plan, organize and orchestrate the event. Twice Upon a Time would also like to thank the following contributors for their support:
Gifts in kind
Cash donations
Publicity & ticket sales
Crafts and baked goods
Volunteers
Recently we teamed up with the Courthouse Angels to give some children a splendid surprise on Christmas morning – books from Twice Upon a Time!
The Courthouse Angels program is currently run by Justice Lynn Ratushny, the Superior Court 
of Justice of Ontario, and her staff. Every holiday season, the program is advertised through the Ottawa courthouse and to the legal community. Anyone can sign up to buy a gift for a child (or multiple children) from a list provided by the Children’s Aid Society.
Our relationship with the Courthouse Angels can be attributed to Jennifer Walker. When not volunteering for Twice Upon a Time, Walker works at the Ottawa Courthouse on Elgin Street where she is the head of the law library.
Walker approached Justice Ratushny to ask if Twice Upon a Time could make a donation to the program, suggesting one book for every child on the list, and Ratushny thought it was a fantastic idea.
A book sorting party was held in late November, with Marni Squire as the lead on the project. Volunteers at the party included Sara Rock and her daughter Sylvie, along with Susan Eaton, Laura May, Cait McMillan and Gabby Trepenier.
These volunteers sorted through hundreds of books to select one that would appeal to each child, based on age and gender. The inside covers of 400 books were stamped to read: “This book once belonged to Twice Upon a Time and now belongs to _____________, before the books were labeled, boxed, and delivered to the Ottawa Courthouse for distribution by the Children’s Aid Society.
Thanks to our generous donors and volunteers, 400 kids in the care of the Children’s Aid Society received the gift of a “good read” this Christmas.
Fall brought a new partnership for Twice Upon a Time!
During our first year of operations, we are exploring a variety of service models and partnerships to see what are the best ways to get good quality new and gently used books into the hands of children who need them.
Our pop-up free bookstore at Heartwood House has been open twice a week since May, and in October we launched a new and exciting partnership with the Housing Support Office of the Taggart Family YM-YWCA located in Centretown.
Amber James from the YM-YWCA explained that there are approximately 100 people at any time living at the Y. About 60 of the residents are children. These families, many of whom are newcomers to Canada, live on two floors of the Y residence tower while they wait for access to long term housing.
Twice Upon a Time has filled two donated bookcases with a wide variety of books suitable for children up to age 12. The Y has provided a dedicated room where residents can access books day and night, seven days a week. Families can keep the books they select and take them to their new homes when they move out of the Y. Volunteers visit the Y twice per month to replenish the books, and read aloud to the children.
According to Twice Upon a Time volunteer Marni Squire, “the goal of this partnership is to get books into the homes of children who do not have many books, and extend our reach beyond the Vanier/Overbrook neighbourhood where our pop-up free bookstore is located.”
“Living in supportive housing at the Y is not always easy for the residents,” said Squire. “The staff are wonderful and the environment is safe, but the families must share kitchen space and the rooms are small. It is an anxious time for some as they wait for their own home.”
The new Twice Upon a Time book room provides a place where families can visit and interact with one another outside of their apartments, and children are warmly welcomed.
Squire said the new partnership with the Y is off to a great start. "During out first month we distributed 81 books in English and French to resident children. Families are curious about the book room, and have begun recognizing Twice Upon a Time volunteers."
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Twice Upon a Time is having it’s first fundraiser! Join us Sunday December 7 at Trinity Anglican Church, 1230 Bank Street, for a concert of holiday favorites by Voices in Harmony (formerly the Orpheus Choral Group). Doors open at 3pm for a holiday bake and craft sale. The 90 minute concert starts at 4pm. Tickets are available at Kaleidoscope Kids Books, the Ottawa Folklore Centre, and at the door. $15 admission (free for kids under 12).
Twice Upon a Time has given away 1000 books to 775 kids since we opened in May. Help us reach more families who can’t afford children’s books by attending our first fundraiser!
Twice Upon a Time: Free books for Ottawa kids
presents…
A concert of musical favourites for the holiday season by Voices in Harmony (formerly the Orpheus Choral Group)
Sunday, December 7, 2014 | Trinity Anglican Church, 1230 Bank St
Doors open at 3pm – join us for coffee and a holiday bake and craft sale
The concert begins at 4pm
Tickets are $15 (Children under 12 are free)
Ticks are available at at the door and in advance from:
How you can help
Twice Upon a Time is a registered not-for-profit organization. An application for charitable status with the Canada Revenue Agency is in progress.
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While most folks were enjoying the final lazy days of summer, Twice Upon a Time was anything but idle! I recently had the pleasure of speaking with volunteer coordinator Tori Murray about the progress this ‘start-up’ organization has made over the summer.
Twice Upon a Time has been open since May on Thursdays and 
Saturdays. Thanks to the fantastic weather Ottawa has been providing lately, volunteers usually set up shop outside Heartwood House on MacArthur Ave, inviting families walking by to stop in and pick out books to take home to keep.
“We have an old wooden book cart filled with books for kids of all ages in English and French, as well as a chairs and cushions for the kids to sit down and read through some books before they make their choice,” Tori added. “There is also a colouring station, and volunteers can frequently be found reading to visiting kids.”
Once the children (and accompanying adults, if they wish) find their book of choice, it is stamped with “This book once belonged to Twice Upon a Time and now it belongs to _______” Before they leave, the new owner writes their name in their very own book. Kids can visit as often as they like, and take home to keep one book per visit.
Tori explained that groups of children from the nearby Boys and Girls Club regularly visit. Volunteers read aloud to the group and lead discussions about the stories.
Tori says that the neighbourhood response to this new initiative has been great. “While people walking by are sometimes initially skeptical of strangers offering them free books, once they realize there’s no “catch”, people have been more than delighted to take advantage of this new resource in their community.”
One little girl and her mother walk past the Heartwood House most Thursdays and Saturdays.
“They both love stopping and getting new books. The girl's Mum said that they are getting a real library going at home, which is the main objective of Twice Upon a Time.”
Tori explained that after being open only 25 days since May, Twice Upon a Time had already distributed nearly 740 books to over 600 kids.
A large part of the success of Twice Upon a Time comes from the commitment of the organization’s volunteers, explained Tori. A dedicated volunteer herself, Tori stated that most of her fellow volunteers have been recruited through word of mouth or through social media like Facebook and Twitter.
Twice Upon a Time is always looking for more volunteers, especially those who are willing to help run the pop-up free book ‘shop’ located at Heartwood House. Tori explained that the organization is hoping to have enough volunteers by September to be able to reduce the length of volunteer shifts.
Donations of high quality children’s books have been pouring in. “We filled our first unit at Dymon Storage and upgraded to a larger one,” Tori explained. “Now the bigger storage unit is full already!”
Because of this, a hold has been temporarily put on donations. However, Tori encourages the public to keep an eye on Twice Upon a Time’s website and Facebook page for information on when donations will be welcomed once again.
If you are interested in volunteering your time and skills to support Twice Upon a Time, contributing financially to operating costs, or donating new or gently used children’s books, please contact info@twiceuponatime.ca
Volunteers hand out free books
There are some troubling statistics surrounding illiteracy in Canada. 42% of Canadian adults between the ages of 16 and 65 have low literacy skills. Even more troubling, one child in four begins kindergarten in Canada without the skills to learn how to read. Students in grade 3 who report that they “like to read” dropped from 76% in 1998/1999 to 50% in 2010/2011.
It was statistics like these which inspired the creation of the Ottawa-based not-for-profit organization Twice Upon a Time.
Twice Upon a Time is the brainchild of librarian Alexandra Yarrow. Yarrow began working as a librarian at the Rideau Branch of the Ottawa Public Library in 2006. While working at the library, Yarrow experienced a magical moment when she read a book to a child who had never been read aloud to before. More and more, she noticed that parents visiting the library could not afford to purchase used paperback books for their children from the library's 50 cent sale shelves. Yarrow knew that even though Ottawa has an excellent public library system, kids also need books of their own at home to read and re-read so that the patterns of language and story become second nature.
During a visit to Toronto, Yarrow toured The Children’s Book Bank, a registered charity that provides free books and literacy support to children in low-income Toronto neighbourhoods. The Children’s Book Bank was founded by a group of Toronto volunteers in late 2007. The Book Bank now averages about 150-200 books given away each day.
This visit planted the seed for Twice Upon a Time. Yarrow put out feelers to see who might share her passion to make books more accessible to children in Ottawa. An enthusiastic group of volunteers responded and have been working since 2012 to create a non profit organization that collects new and gently used children’s books and gives them away. Twice Upon a Time recently began operating twice a week in Heartwood House, an organization based in Vanier/Overbrook that has been providing affordable accommodation to non-profit organizations in Ottawa for over 11 years. Children can visit as often as they like, and can take home to keep a book of their choice each time they visit.
The Ottawa Neighbourhood Study indicates that a high percentage of children living near Heartwood House are at risk for school failure due to Early Development Indicators, including socio-economic and health factors. Other studies have proven that the number of books in the home is correlated with school success. By facilitating book ownership, Twice Upon a Time helps strengthen literacy skills and school readiness.
Yarrow believes that a large part of the early success of Twice Upon a Time was due to making connections with similar organizations like The Children’s Book Bank that were willing to share their experience and advice. Yarrow credits “big-hearted Ottawans” - like the Awesome Ottawa Foundation - who have helped to get the project off the ground. Engaging and creating meaningful ways of including people who share her passion for children’s literacy “helped shepherd an idea towards reality.”
By Rell DeShaw
I had the pleasure of spending a beautiful day in May doing something creative and fun with a wonderful group of fellow Twice Upon a Time volunteers. I got to document their process of decorating the book cupboard that will house the books for Twice Upon a Time’s pop-up operations at Heartood House.
Our work day was front loaded with a lot of careful planning by Kelly and Jennifer - they figured out how to make an ordinary metal cabinet function as a magical storage place for our give-away children’s books. We were joined by Ozan for our day of turning the cabinet from plain to fantastic.
Volunteers scrubbed the cabinet clean. We then sprayed primer inside and out, taking care not to spray each other! and then we sprayed on blackboard paint on one side - two coats to make it right.
We then spent a while measuring and cutting the recycled foam core. We then covered them with felt panels. We were helped in this endeavour by a very cute dog.
Finally, we painted the cabinet with bright colours inside and out.
The final cabinet is wondrous - it is brightly painted inside and out and has one side covered in blackboard paint and one side covered in felt panels for storytelling.
Jamieson Findlay's most recent book
In celebration of Canadian Children's Book Week, Twice Upon a Time/Il était deux fois brings you this exclusive interview with Ottawa author, Jamieson Findlay.
Jamieson Findlay is the author of two books for children, most recently The Summer of Permanent Wants. It is about a grandmother and granddaughter who convert a small canal boat into a floating secondhand bookstore. They sail up and down the Rideau Canal Waterway, selling books and having adventures.
Twice Upon a Time/Il était deux fois: We are working towards creating a non-profit organization that will give new or gently used children’s books to Ottawa kids. I know that you’re a big lover of the library but I’d like to hear about the books that you owned as a kid and why book ownership was an important influence for you. How did the books you were able to own help form you as a writer? (more…)