ELORA – After being shelved for two years, the annual Elora Festival Giant Book Sale is back.
And if you’ve been sitting on a stack of books waiting to donate them for the sale, you’ll be happy to know that donations are being accepted once again.
“We just opened the donation centre on March 14 and already there’s been a pretty large influx of books,” volunteer Blake Stormes said in a March 18 interview. “After being on hold for two years, we expect we’ll see a lot more come in.”
Books can be left at the book shed at 380 St. Andrew St. West in Fergus, at the bottom of Maiden Lane.
“We had to stop taking donations because of the pandemic; normally we take donations 24/7 all year and each day we empty [the shed],” Stormes said.
Organizers are looking for books in good condition and of good quality in any and all genres. Records, CDs, DVDs, sheet music and board games are also accepted. But they don’t take magazines, textbooks, or encyclopedias.
If you’ve been to the book sale before, you’ll understand why. It’s big, there’s a huge variety of materials, and often there are rare books in the Collector’s Corner.
“We send special invitations to dealers to attend on the Friday night,” said Judy Stormes, another volunteer. “We direct them to Collector’s Corner for their treasures.”
Jean Trask has been volunteering with the book sale for 30 years. The idea for the festival fundraiser came from St. John church and the first sale was held in 1989.
“It was only one day and we had a fraction of the books. We’ve grown exponentially over the years,” she said.
This year’s book sale will be held at the Elora Curling Club on May 6, 7 and 8. Admission on Friday is $5. There is no admission fee the other two days. Funds raised go to the Elora Festival.
Brad Stormes said organizers have plenty of volunteers to help during the sale but they could use some hands and sturdy backs to help on the Wednesday and Thursday before, and the Monday after, for set up and take down.
Anyone interested in volunteering or who has questions can email info@elorasingers.com. The Elora Festival is slated to run July 8 to 24.
For more information, visit elorafestival.ca/booksale.
