AROUND 30,000 books were on offer at Bega Rotary’s three-day book fair over the weekend and novel-hungry hordes were devouring the books right from the first day.
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The fair opened at the Bega Showground pavilion on Friday morning, and by 11am there were already about 170 people flipping through the plethora of books on offer.
There had even been a line outside of the door at 9am when the fair opened.
On Monday, Bega Rotary member Charlie Blomfield estimated 1500-2000 people had visited over the whole weekend, and the club had sold about 10,000 books.
He said they were still counting the figure, but it was a better result than last July’s fair, which raised about $12,000.
“However it was not quite as good as January’s book fair, when we had all the holiday makers around, but it was certainly very close,” Mr Blomfield said.
“The $50 for a bag on Friday and Saturday was generally well received and was something we hope to provide in future book fairs.”
New Bega Rotary president Bob Counahan said two containers had been installed out the back of the pavilion to store books ahead of the next fair.
He said this was fantastic, as it enabled the club to sort the books on an ongoing basis.
“The big thing is the generosity of the community,” Mr Counahan said.
“There is a constant river of incoming books from people in the community.”
Funding recipients of the book fair were yet to be finalised, but some would go towards schools in the area, scholarships for TAFE and university students, as well an exchange student program.
Mr Counahan also said Rotary had pledged $10,000 to the construction of carers accommodation at the South East Regional Hospital over the next two years.
In the coming year, Rotary will provide ongoing support for projects in Timor Leste, such as roof building, fencing of gardens and possibly become involved in a water supply project for a village.