Fantastic fair back from the cold

TENS of thousands of new reads will be on offer for local bookworms next month as Geelong West’s book fair makes its long-awaited return.

The Rotary Club of Geelong West will bring its major fundraiser back to Geelong West Town Hall from February 18 to 20.

An extensive library of donations will go on sale for a gold coin – $1 for soft covers and $2 for hard covers – preventing thousands of books from going to landfill and supporting the club’s range of community activities.

Geelong West Rotary predicts it has 80,000 books in its North Geelong warehouse waiting to find a new home after COVID cancelled its book bonanzas in the past two years.

February’s Book Fair would only have room for a fraction of its present stash, but event organiser Michael Clyne said that there’d be plenty of bargains on offer for shoppers.

“Given the fact we’ve missed out on two book fairs over the past 18 months because of COVID we’ve got a huge supply of stock that we’re hoping to move a lot of at this coming Book Fair,” Mr Clyne said.

“We’ll still be there Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning, and hopefully people will come down and buy by the bagful. You’re supporting a local Geelong fundraiser, the money goes back to the Geelong community.

“We’ve missed out on a couple of book fairs over the past couple of years, so we’d like to get up and running again.”

Mr Clyne said the club’s book fairs raised up to $40,000 annually, which it redirected to a host of local charities and community initiatives.

Barwon Health Patient Transport, St Vincent de Paul’s crisis accommodation program Samaritan House, Geelong Mums and food support drives are among the recipients of the Geelong West club’s donations.

The Rotary club collects donations from local libraries and community members for its fundraising event.

“Geelong Regional Libraries (GRLC) have supported the Rotary Geelong West Book Fair for many years through the donation of books which have been ‘retired’ from our library collection. We are very proud to be able to support such a worthy initiative in this way,” GRLC chair Ron Nelson said.

“And with recycling these books this way, comes the added benefit of the protection of the environment.

“It is wonderful to see items from our collection finding new homes in the community rather than ending up in landfill.”

Collections have closed for the coming fair while volunteers sort through hordes of books, but drop-offs will reopen in March for the August fair. The club invites donations at Rotary House in North Geelong, on the second Tuesday and fourth Sunday of each month.