In the Community

Did you know that the University of Alberta Bookstore is operated directly by the university, not a third-party company? All profits are reinvested back into the university, so when you shop here, you’re supporting your campus community.

Our support goes beyond textbooks and merch sales. The Bookstore team works closely with groups across campus to help facilitate fundraisers, student sponsorships, uniforms, events and more! Here are just a few of the ways we give back to our green and gold community:

Student Support

Employment

The Bookstore provides flexible on-campus employment opportunities for students, allowing them to develop professional skills while balancing their academic commitments. Currently, we employ over 40 students and alumni in casual positions accross various departments.

While most of our student employees move on to external opportunities after graduation, some find positions within the U of A. Two Bookstore graduates are even full-time University staff members!

Student staff work our Open House booth at the Butterdome, October 2023.

Student Groups

We’ve worked with 30+ student groups to develop custom swag and facilitate fundraisers - and our list of partnerships continues to grow! In 2024, we helped the three-time Queen’s Cup winning A-Team (Alberta MBA Games Team) with uniforms for the national MBA Games and facilitated successful fundraisers for the Faculty of Medicine classes of 2027 and 2028.

Our team works with each group to help source quality products within budget and navigate the design and approval process, order and payment collection and delivery, without requiring any cash up front. In 2023, the Bookstore helped U of A student groups fundraise nearly $10,000, with an additional $9,647.52 raised in 2024!

Student Experience Action Plan (SEAP)

We were pleased to have the opportunity to work with the Student Experience Action Plan (SEAP) team in sourcing sweaters to celebrate their 2024 plan launch. By facilitating both an online presale and in-store sales of the merchandise, we were able to help the SEAP team raise greater campaign awareness and support throughout the campus community.

"In 2024, the Student Experience Action Plan (SEAP) team worked with the Bookstore to sell sweatshirts promoting the initiative. There were two rounds of sweatshirt sales the Bookstore coordinated: a presale where sizes/quantities were collected ahead of time and another where a selection of sizes were ordered based on historical sweatshirt sales and then put on display. Cassie was incredibly helpful with both sales, providing us with advice on how best to proceed based on experience. She also took the time to set up a special "SEAP" display at the Bookstore to promote sales. We're proud to see both students and staff wearing the SEAP sweatshirts! "

-Chantal Delfs, SEAP

Student Sponsorship Program

In 2024, the Bookstore partnered with 70 Indigenous nation authorities and 5 government initiatives to facilitate book sponsorship for 470 students. That equates to 1,380 textbooks or $124,830.90 worth of course materials and supplies!

"The U of A Bookstore was amazing to work with! They did a great job at collaborating with us in a timely manner to design hoodies and sweatshirts for our faculty. They had a variety of colors, designs and logos to choose from for the sweatshirts and allowed us to customize them for our faculty/program. They also gave us the option to embroider our grad year, name or initials on the sleeve, and we were able to add a tooth logo to personalize the sweatshirts for the Faculty of Dentistry. This was a successful fundraising opportunity for our grad class. It was very convenient, as we communicated our ideas with the bookstore employees and they were able to execute the fundraiser for us! The students were able to purchase the sweatshirts on the well-organized bookstore website and pick them up at the bookstore for easy distribution. We were very happy with how the sweatshirts turned out and appreciate the great customer service!"

-Faculty of Dentistry

Staff and Operational Support

Course Materials

As our name suggests, the Bookstore provides textbooks to students, but we also provide a wide range of other course materials, including art supplies, lab coats and PPE, STEM education kits, custom coursepacks and more. In 2023, 41,883 course materials, 5,903 coursepacks, 305 art kits and 24,881 other art items were provided through our in-store and online services.

The Bookstore has always worked with the Registrar’s office to help facilitate course material adoptions, but did you know we also share valuable course material data collected through our systems with other stakeholders, including the Students’ Union Zero Cost Textbook initiative, the Library Collections Strategies Unit, the Registrar’s Office and the Copyright Office? This information helps each of these groups support student success in their own fundamental ways.

Two of our friendly Parking Services Officers show off their uniforms.

Uniforms and Custom Merchandise

Our Custom Orders team works closely with departments across campus to provide quality uniforms and custom merchandise.

We have provided uniforms and other professional attire to over 400 F&O employees in AMO, Housekeeping, Maintenance, Parking Services and the University of Alberta Botanical Gardens, helping create a consistent, professional, on-brand look for staff.

Our team collaborates closely with the Faculty of Nursing and the Nursing Student Group to provide branded scrubs, polos and equipment for labs and practicum throughout the year. We also do various swag sales for the department throughout the year, with proceeds benefiting the Nursing Students Group.

Celebration of Service

The annual Celebration of Service recognizes staff members who have provided 25, 30, 35, 40, or 45 years of service to the University of Alberta. In addition to a formal event and reception, recipients are invited to choose a gift from customized catalogs. For over 8 years, the Bookstore team has worked closely with Human Resources, Health, Safety + Environment (HRHSE) to source and select a range of gifts, develop catalogs for each award category, and receive/distribute orders to recipients each year.

In 2024, we had one individual celebrate 50 years of service!

Visit the Celebration of Service website for more information on the program.

Campus Community

Monetary Contributions to Campus

As a University-run department, any profits from the sale of course materials, supplies, merchandise and other regular items are reinvested back into the U of A community. Since 2020, the Bookstore has contributed over $750,000 to campus initiatives, supporting campus groups, departments, staffing and operational needs.

On behalf of the Office of Alumni Relations, the Bookstore manages the purchasing and sales of University of Alberta degree frames. This partnership contributes almost 100% of the proceeds and has given over $420,000 directly back to the Office of Alumni Relations since 2020.

In addition to regular contributions from sales, the Bookstore has also developed fundraising partnerships with several campus groups over the years, including First Peoples’ House, Fyrefly, the Faculty of Native Studies, Campus Food Bank and many more. From 2020-2022, we helped campus groups raise over $360,000 with an additional $150,000 in 2023 alone.

The Bookstore does not require any money up-front to run fundraiser sales, and we offer space in-store and online for sales, removing many of the barriers that come with traditional fundraising models.

First Peoples’ House

Since 2013, the Bookstore has partnered with First Peoples’ House to produce and sell Orange Shirt Day tees in-store and online. All proceeds from Orange Shirt sales go directly to fund cultural programming throughout the year.

For the second year in a row, we were proud to provide space and support for the Truth and Reconciliation Week event hosted by First Peoples’ House. This annual event seeks to draw awareness to the history and ongoing impact of the Canadian Residential School system and remember those children who never came home through educational displays and open conversation. The strength and resilience of Residential School Survivors and their families is honoured through traditional dancing and community art activities.

In 2024, building on our partnership and existing Orange Shirt Day and Cree Collections, First Peoples' House and the Bookstore launched a new red t-shirt design to raise awareness around Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women, Girls and Gender Diverse People (MMIWG2S). We continue to support artists across the province in selling handmade ribbon skirts, pants and shirts.

Watch the First Peoples’ House and Bookstore websites for new collections and upcoming events!

First Peoples' House staff pose in Orange Shirt Day tees and hoodies featuring paintings by Jerry Whitehead.

"First Peoples' House is so grateful for the partnership over the past 11 years in creating space within the Bookstore to uplift the message of Orange Shirt day through selling FPH Orange shirts designed by Artist Jerry Whitehead. The Bookstore has been highly engaged in lifting up the voices that have been silenced along the way - the voices of Indian Residential School Survivors. They welcomed First Peoples' House along with Artist Jerry Whitehead, Elders and the larger community into their space that highlighted the legacy of Indian Residential Schools and opened up the dialogue with our collective community about the impacts of IRS throughout the week of Truth and Reconciliation. We are so grateful to our friends at the Bookstore and look forward to future partnerships that highlight local FNMI artists and continue to highlight social injustices of the First Peoples' of Canada."

- Shana Dion, Assistant Dean, First Nation, Métis, and Inuit Students

Fyrefly

The Fyrefly Institute for Gender and Sexual Diversity provides support for our 2SLGBTQ+ community and allies, including education, mental health supports and crisis intervention. The University of Alberta Pride collection was created in partnership with Fyrefly and is available at the Bookstore year-round. Fyrefly and the Bookstore will be launching a new design for March 2025 - watch in-store and online! All proceeds from the collection go directly to Fyrefly initiatives.

University of Alberta President and Vice-Chancellor Bill Flanagan shows off his U of A Pride t-shirt.

"The UA Pride Collection is an ongoing source of support for Fyrefly’s essential and life-saving 2SLGBTQ+ programs and services. It provides our supporters with a concrete, tangible item that they can enjoy in exchange for supporting Fyrefly. Since the design incorporates the general colors of the Pride flag, with the University of Alberta UA, University community members are able to showcase not only their relationship to the university, but also show their pride year round!

The Pride t-shirt, and many of the items from the collection are versatile and can be worn or incorporated for numerous Pride events, or within your spaces. For those who may not be comfortable with t-shirts, there are also multiple options that they can choose from, such as a pin, mug, sticker, and lanyard.

By partnering with Fyrefly, the Bookstore helps students see that they are included and welcomed as part of our U of A family. The Bookstore team is easy to communicate with and work with, and have been at multiple events of ours to help sell and promote our collection! When community members wear U of A Pride Merch off campus, it communicates to the broader community that the U of A values Pride and 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusion, advocacy, and celebration."

-Staff, The Fyrefly Institute for Gender and Sexual Diversity

Beyond the University

The Bookstore partners with local artists and businesses to curate personalized collections for sale. These unique collaborations aim to showcase the vibrant creativity of our broader community while offering customers distinctive and locally-inspired products. By blending literary and artistic worlds, the bookstore enriches the shopping experience and supports local talent.

Get in touch!

Contact us for more information about University of Alberta Bookstore initiatives, including fundraising, student sponsorship, procurement, employment, or campus group support.

Bookstore staff pose with our second-longest serving employee, Bookstore Bear.

Student and Campus Group Donations

At the Bookstore, we believe in supporting student and campus groups with their initiatives to foster their growth and creativity. That’s why we are committed to helping as many on campus groups as possible by offering donations of items for door prizes and speaker gifts. Whether it’s for an event, a project, or a community initiative, we try to help out with the resources needed to promote and succeed. We only helped 15 student groups in 2024 and have the capacity and ambition to help even more. If you are a student group please reach out today to speak with our team!