A RANDOM rubbish find added $430 to the 30th annual Tamworth Rotary Book Sale fundraising effort.
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Sorting through the thousands of books takes time and effort and it’s been an ongoing process for months at the now disused Sam’s Warehouse, where the sale starts at 8am tomorrow.
Books are donated in all conditions, from pristine to worn-out. One considered pretty old and out of date was thrown on the rubbish pile by one of the sorters. The dog-eared 1901 cricket program was spotted on the chuck-out pile by club president John Nash, who retrieved it and put a $30 reserve on it on eBay.
Before too long, the book that was destined for the recyclers attracted a heap of bids – eventually selling for $400 more than the reserve.
“When you’re sorting, you’ll find a lot of books that are obsolete or too worn to offer for sale,” Rotarian Paul Cole said.
“That cricket book was passed off as ‘no good’ by a sorter, then picked up by John, who thought it might fetch $30, and it was sold to someone it holds special significance for.
“That fellow has a cricket museum and most programs from that era had been lost. He was delighted to find it and more than happy to pay $430.
“That’s the thing with this book sale. You just don’t know what you’ll find among the tens of thousands of books for sale – and you’ll pay no more than $5 for a book.”
In one of the biggest sale areas they’ve had to date, Mr Cole said there were 200 tables of books in all categories, puzzles, DVDs and videos.
He estimated 50 per cent would be sold on the first day, as many people liked to get in early and have first dibs.
“Every dollar we raise goes back to the community in one way or another,” Mr Cole said.
“All the workers volunteer their time to collect, sort and stack the books, and then be on hand to sell them when the sale is on.”
The sale opens at 8am and will close about 4pm or 5pm each day.