While growing up in Calgary, I spent a lot of time in Chinatown. I remember streets bustling with people going to dim sum or getting groceries from a small supermarket around the corner. Chinese businesses, including bookshops and bookstores, would provide anything from daily newspapers to translated novels for the Chinese community.
In contrast, Edmonton does not have many Chinese bookstores, but one prominent location is Asia Books and Gift, found on 97th Street.
Asia Books and Gift offers a wide variety of texts, including materials originating from Edmonton, Vancouver, China, Japan, and Hong Kong. Some of these available texts are banned in China. In contrast, banned materials are scarce in specialized Chinese libraries, because the material is often donated by the Chinese government itself.
However, while the store offers a variety of material, some types of books are missing. This independent bookstore lacks in children's literature. According to the store owner, educational material is scare in his shop since parents often go to public libraries to obtain them. Readers searching for new or current bestselling novels might also need to look elsewhere, as this bookstore only has older material in the books section. On my visits, I note a stand-alone volume of a comic book series, a Chinese calendar, coloring books, and picture books. The material seems very randomized and dated, making it difficult to make any concrete conclusions about the selection.
However, the bookstore carries the most current issues of newspapers and magazines. Newspapers are popular in the Chinese community because they are easily found and sold at a cheap price, or even offered for free. Aside from Asia Books and Gift, they also common at restaurants, shopping centers, and supermarkets, like Lucky 97. Chinese newspapers have a strong and consistent readership, as readers in the Chinese community often pick up their favorite news sources during their meals or groceries. Some newspapers also come with supplement magazines comparable to US Weekly or People. Magazines from overseas countries like Japan and China are quite popular, both at this location and around the city. These items discuss trendy topics in gossip, lifestyle, or beauty. However, because these magazines are obtained abroad, they are more expensive, ranging between $12-$16, which limits who may be able to purchase them.
Offering current newspapers and magazines but outdated books seems to be a common trend between this seller and the China Town Library. The librarian of the China Town Library explains that the older material is often donated by the children of members of the community who have passed away. Nonetheless, outdated materials can still generate a readership as the China Town Library often sells them at a cheap price in order to generate funds for the library, so there is still a market for it.
While Edmonton may not have chain bookstores or multiple independent sellers that are devoted to providing Chinese texts, exploring and contrasting Asia Books and Gift and local libraries provides insight into the materials available to the Chinese readers of Edmonton.
