Book sale co-ordinator Alison Cunningham said the limits on gathering numbers to 100 meant the sale, renowned for its "cheerful crush", could not go ahead.
"We are gutted to be cancelling the sale for the third time, but we are also well aware that everybody is in the same boat," Mrs Cuningham said.
The Regent Theatre 24 Hour Book Sale had been scheduled for February 25 and 26 at the More FM Arena at the Edgar Centre — the first time the sale was to be held there.
The book sale team was now exploring options for holding "some variation" of the sale, possibly at the theatre, she said.
"It’s all up in the air at the moment."
However, given the immense financial pressure on the performing arts and venues like the Regent Theatre due to the pandemic, fundraising events like the book sale were needed more than ever, she said.
Volunteer book collectors would continue to pick up boxes of books on request, so long as there were no cases of Covid-19 in Dunedin, Mrs Cunningham said.
"If and when any infections are identified in Dunedin, we will have to revisit that to keep our volunteers, and the public, safe."
Boxes of donated books continued to flood in, meaning the book sale’s storage facility was starting to bulge at the seams.
"Our stocks of books have just kept on growing with no book sale to help clean them out."
The storeroom at the Regent Theatre was packed, and the storage and book sorting space at Roslyn Storage in Kaikorai Valley was full.
"We really are bursting at the seams, and are in urgent need of dry warehouse space where we can store some of our books," Mrs Cunningham said.
Anyone who has suitable storage space available can contact Mrs Cunningham through the Regent Theatre.
