Meet the West Kelowna, B.C., woman who's been keeping books from being destroyed for 25 years - Action News
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British Columbia

Meet the West Kelowna, B.C., woman who's been keeping books from being destroyed for 25 years

Carol Jackson was at her local recycling depot 25 years ago, when,to her horror, she saw a bunch of books being crushed by a compactor. Since then she's been collecting them and giving them away for free from a bookshop in her garage.

Carol Jackson runs "adopt-a-book" program from her garage with books meant for destruction

A woman wearing a black sweater stands in front of book shelves and a shelf of blue glass bottles and vases.
Carol Jackson, 71, is pictured in her garage-turned-free book store in West Kelowna, B.C. (Brady Strachan/CBC)

Carol Jackson was at her local recycling depot 25 years ago, when,to her horror, she saw a bunch of books being crushed by a compactor.

"That offended me so much," the 71-year-old said.

In a move to save others from that fate, she got permission from the depot to put a large shed at the centre, and fill it with discarded books to give away to people visiting the depot.

Eventually, her collection grew so big she had to move it to her garage.

A sign reads
Thousands of books line the walls of Carol Jackson's garage in West Kelowna, B.C. (Submitted by Marina Ragimova)

"It was so fun organizing them and as I was doing it, people were coming down the driveway with their kids and so it became a lifestyle where I met friends," Jackson said.

"It was really terrific."

She's been rescuing books in West Kelowna, B.C., ever since.

An interior view of a garage filled with books on shelves.
Carol Jackson of West Kelowna, B.C., uses her garage to arrange and give away books that would otherwise be sent to a landfill. (Submitted by Marina Ragimova)

Jackson's garage became a de factoused book store. Bookshelves and crates linethe walls and create aisles in the middle. She arranges books by genre, author and era.

She calls it her "adopt-a-book" program, and estimates she's been able to give away hundreds of thousands of books; everything from 100-year-old texts to romance novels to how-to guides.

"So this one is 1882," she said as she opened up a dusty old book of poetry.

"You can see how different the pages are and the lettering, the whole typeset. It can take you back to another time."

A woman stands in a doorway to a room filled with used books
Carol Jackson says the best part of offering free books is meeting the people who stop by to check out her collection. (Submitted by Marina Ragimova)

Renewed interest

Her collection and interest in the shop has ebbed and flowed through the years, but recently it gained in popularity when a friend posted about it on Facebook marketplace.

"So many people came, and it was so nice to talk to them and to interact," she said.

Bookshelves filled with old books
Some of the books Carol Jackson has rescued are more than 100 years old. (Submitted by Marina Ragimova)

Kelowna resident Marina Ragimova,who worksin film production, saysshe heard about Jackson's garage from a colleague and visited her last summer to rent books for set design.

She says they are featured in the Hallmark movie B & B Merry starring Jen Lilley and Jesse Cubby.

"When the show was done, I called her and I wanted to see if she would be OK with us buying them off of her. She didn't want to take any money," said Ragimova.

"She just kept saying, 'You know what, just keep it. I'm glad those books have been used."

'Struck by her kindness and generosity'

When Ragimova visited Jackson asecond time and mentioned wanting to get back to reading, Ragimovasays Jackson helped pick books shewould enjoy.

"I was standing there just awkwardly, holding this box, struck by her kindness and generosity. She was just so lovely," she recalled.

bookshelves full of old books
Carol Jackson estimates she's given away hundreds of thousands of books over the past 25 years. (Submitted by Marina Ragimova)

She snapped photos of the books and the garage and posted them on Facebook Marketplace to tell others about Jackson.

Jackson says the joy of meeting new people and the delight she gets from when someone finds an interesting read makes the effort she puts into her project worthwhile.