Two of Toronto’s veteran indie booksellers are teaming up to organize the book event series This Is Not a Reading Series. Charlie Huisken, co-founder of This Ain’t the Rosedale Library, is the organization’s new event producer, joining Pages Books and Magazines founder and current artistic director Marc Glassman. The organization has also hired freelance publicist Bruce Walsh as a consultant.

The news underscores the fact that the two veteran booksellers have struggled recently to stay in business in the traditional sense. Last summer, Pages closed its doors for good, citing rising rents in downtown Toronto. And This Ain’t closed last month after two years at its new Kensington Market location.

“Although bookstores are closing or suffering from economic trauma, creative activity continues in this city,” Huisken is quoted as saying in the official TINARS press release. “I look forward to this opportunity to recreate book culture in Toronto and to open up more channels for public discourse.”

Huisken takes over from veteran TINARS programmer Chris Reed, who left in June to become publicist at University of Toronto Press. According to the release, Reed will “continue to consult” with TINARS.