Up to 40k books ready for avid readers to leaf through

Mosgiel Rotarians Fraser Ellis (front) and Warren McLaughlan tackle the daily task of unloading a full bin of donated books at a Mosgiel supermarket before this weekend’s giant book sale at Wingatui Raceway. PHOTO: SUPPLIED

Rotarians and volunteers have spent the past few days moving and unpacking tens of thousands of books in preparation for this weekend’s giant Mosgiel Rotary Book Sale.

Club member Irene Mosley told The Star that more than 1000 banana boxes of books — a total of 30,000-40,000, had been donated by the community over the past year for the sale.

"We have collection bins at Mosgiel supermarkets, which have had to be emptied every day in recent weeks," Mrs Mosley said.

"And over the months, we have also had whole collections and house-loads of books donated — the amount of support for the sale in the local community is wonderful."

The Mosgiel Rotary Book Sale will be held from tomorrow until Sunday from at Wingatui Race Course.

Most books cost $3, with some books individually priced, and children’s books at $1.

There is also a fill-a-bag for $25 option, for standard shopping bags.

The sale also includes CDs, vinyl, DVDs, paintings and a good range of puzzles.

Mrs Mosley said the book sale organising team, led by Rotarian Fraser Ellis, had come up with a simple, but effective way of displaying the books in the sale.

"The non-fiction books and special interest books are displayed in sections, and the fiction books are divided into male authors and female authors," she said.

"It sounds a bit strange, but it seems to work."

The light and airy space at Wingatui Race Course was ideal for the book sale, and ensured there was plenty of room for browsers to peruse the books.

There was also a space for children to sit and enjoy their book choices.

The Mosgiel Rotary Book Sale has been running annually since 2011, when it raised $9000 for the neurosurgery campaign, and has raised tens of thousands of dollars for charities over the years.

Last year’s sale raised $25,000, which was divided between several local charities.

This year’s book sale will raise funds for the Taieri Tunnel and Cycle Trail Project in its push to complete the cycle trail through to Fairfield.

Mrs Mosley said bringing the book sale together was an enormous task involving many, including the strong young volunteers from the Taieri College cricket team, who helped to carry the heavy banana boxes of books.