The book fair has 40,000 books on offer. Photo: Shri Gayathirie Rajen.
Bibliophiles can look forward to leafing through more than 40,000 books to discover their next great read at this year’s Wagga Rotary Book Fair.
The Kyeamba Smith Hall at the Wagga Wagga Showground will be transformed into a booklover’s paradise in May.
Thousands of booklovers are expected to flock to the fair, where they will have the chance to browse and purchase fiction and non-fiction books in genres ranging from children’s literature to romance novels and everything in between.
The fair also offers a large selection of good quality jigsaws, a variety of vinyl records, CDs and DVDs, sheet music, textbooks and reference materials, and old, rare, and collectible items for sale. This year may be the last time the fair offers CDs and DVDs.
One of the collectors for the fair, Bruce Heydon, is excited about this year’s event and believes it will be bigger than ever.
“We’ve had a lot of interest, and people are already dropping off books not only from Wagga but also from places like Tumbarumba, Temora, Young, and even Culcairn,” Bruce said.
“We have a full range of quality books. We sort through them once a week and ensure only good quality books are included.
“We have fiction, non-fiction, Australian books, sporting books, and many cookbooks.”
Visitors can fill an eco-bag for $50 with books of their choice, however Bruce encourages them to bring their own bags, as the fair ran short last year.
With just over six weeks until the fair, Bruce said preparations were coming along well.
“At the moment, we’ve had lots of donations, and we’re nearly up to what we had in the past,” he said.
Bruce, who has been part of Rotary for 15 years, said the book fair was important to the region.
“We’re probably the biggest and most popular book fair in the area,” he said.
“We draw people from Victoria, Canberra, and all over the place.
“Some people, particularly the older ones, organise their holidays to coincide with the fair. We’ve had calls from people asking, ‘When is it on?'”
The fair effectively recycles a large quantity of material and encourages reading and literacy within the community.
Books are often donated back to Rotary, sometimes in the same bags that people purchased them in.
Rotary will allocate the funds collected from the fair to various Rotary-run projects throughout the year.
The club supports several local organisations and participates in domestic programs related to homelessness and youth development, and overseas programs aimed at improving health and education.
Last year’s book fair raised $70,000.
The Wagga Rotary Book Fair is on Saturday 17 May from 8 am to 5 pm and Sunday 18 May from 9 am to 3 pm at Kyeamba Smith Hall, Wagga Showground. Entry to the fair is $2 for adults.
For inquiries about donations for next year’s fair, contact Rotary.
