This is the hardest thing I have ever done--asking for help.

My name is Deborah Ranchuk and my company White Mountain Publications has been my life for the past 44 years. We have published well over 400 books over the years, everything from small chapbooks to 500 page hard covers. You can check them out on our website wmpub.ca We have a passion for publishing histories and biographies so that these people, places and events are captured for the future.

In 2014 we opened a small bookstore in Cobalt, Ontario, Canada and started selling not only our own published books but what we call pre-loved books that started coming in by donation. Some call them used books, not my preferred term of reference. This gave the community another way to recycle their books, and find new treasures at a very affordable price. For 8½ years the store grew until it was so full of books it was hard to move inside. It also grew in popularity and people were thrilled to find older treasures at a very affordable price. It was a way to serve the community and we were having a great time sharing our love of books. Book store customers are the best.

That space was rented and then we got the call that the building had been sold and we would have to move, or close down. Down the street was a building that had been for sale for the whole time I had been in Cobalt, so I went to have a look. It had been a grocery store many years ago, and it was four times larger than the shop I had started in. The building was sound, the electricity new and up to current standards, the floor had been reinforced to accommodate a mining company’s drill core lab. This was important because books are heavy. There was space at the front of the building that was almost finished where we could set up the store to continue while we figured out what to do with the rest of the building. It became our new home for the business. That was three years ago.

In those three years we have renovated the storefront, added additional space for more books, invested thousands of hours of construction work, and tens of thousands of dollars in wood, paint, insulation—the list goes on too long. People stop in again and again to see the progress we have made, and are excited. If you’ve ever been here and wanted to help out, here’s your chance!

To finish it we need help. We’ve exhausted other sources of money, and while the business is gradually doing better and better, we need a giant leap to finish our vision. Maybe not so giant for a lot of people, but a lot when you don’t have it. Our company does not qualify for most funding programs because it is either too small, or too big, located in a ‘small’ community, or not something. And it is frustrating.

To finish the store, and the community room we are planning for book signings, readings, meetings we need another $50,000. A big part of that is the certified electrician, plumber, and simply the physical materials we still need to get to finish walls and lower ceilings. When it is done, we’ll need to add more staff. We are building something to serve the community for the next few decades, and we hope you will find it in your heart to help. Any amount will help.