Now in a new location, Argo Bookshop in downtown Montreal is offering free storytime for children every Saturday afternoon this summer.
Summer Storytimes
Geared to kids between 2 and 6, the storytimes will take place from 2 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. A team of volunteers will take turns reading to the kids. Sometimes, the books chosen will be based on a theme, such as nature or plants or animals, and sometimes the volunteers like to choose books where they can mimic the voices of the various characters.
Expanded Children’s Section
When the bookstore relocated into a bigger space, the owners decided to expand the children’s section. Co-owner Adele-Elise Prevost says she hopes it will get kids to enjoy books the way she did as a child and bring awareness to the fact that there is a larger kids’ component to the store. The space currently has room for 12 kids for storytime.
“We do a lot of events for grownups,” Prevost says. “We have poetry night every Thursdays, author signings and book clubs. We didn’t have anything aimed at our younger readers. We thought this would be a fun thing to do in the afternoon. It came out organically from just having the space with all these books in it and wanting to something that could be fun for little kids.”
The focus for her and co-owner Moti Lieberman, is to be able to showcase the bigger kids’ section, which now stocks picture books for toddlers, graphic novels and non-fiction for kids and as well as books for young adults.
Prevost and Lieberman bought Argo Bookshop in 2017 and they moved to its current location in November 2021. However, Argo Bookshop has been a staple in Montreal long before Prevost and Lieberman bought and expanded it. The original store was opened in 1966 by a Saskatchewan-native John George. Legend has it, says Prevost, that George was a world traveller who fell in love with Montreal. So, he decided to put down his roots here and share his love for books with the community.
Prevost and Lieberman wanted to do the same when they took over the store.
“Neither of us are business people,” Prevost says. “We really entered this venture because of our love of reading and love of community. Bookstores are a huge community space. It’s been a huge mission for us as owners of the shop to keep up with the community angle. It’s been nearly six years now and it’s been great so far.”
The store is located on Ste. Catherine St. at the corner of St. Marc.
For more information, visit www.argobookshop.ca.
