Volunteers call time on book sale

THIS month’s Y Service Club book sale will be the group’s last, with volunteers passing on their decades-old tradition to Bendigo Foodshare.

The club has run book fairs for the past 50 years, usually with one during the Bendigo Easter Festival and one in spring.

Over the last 25 years, $850,000 has been donated to local charities and organisations, and volunteer Colin Lambie said long-time beneficiary Bendigo Foodshare is well-suited to take on the biannual sale.

“We’ve been a strong supporter [of Foodshare],” he said. “We looked at quite a few organisations, but we know Foodshare has 300 volunteers.

“Some of them just want to sort food but they might get new people who want to come sort books.”

Mr Lambie said ageing volunteers is the main reason the Y Service Club will no longer run the event.

“The average age is now over 84, it’s hard work moving boxes of books around,” he said.

“Fifty years ago, the amount raised was nowhere near what it is now. We’ve got to about 20 times what we used to raise, it’s very successful.

“We see it as not just a means of raising money that we donate to charity, the fact people can come in and buy a book for $2 or $3 and children’s books are 50 cents, we see that as a community service.”

Members of the Y Service Club will continue to run their Christmas tree sale, however Mr Lambie said members are “aware that it’s not going to continue forever.”

The spring book sale is on from Friday, 23 September to Sunday 25 September, from 9am to 5pm on the Friday and 9am to 1pm on Saturday and Sunday at Tom Tweed Stadium on Mundy Street.

Donations are open for pre-loved books at the stadium prior to the sale.