Submitted

Bookworms and bookhounds unite —the BIG Book Sale is coming to Invermere on Saturday, Aug. 3.

“While the BIG Book Sale is a lot of work, it is also a fun occasion where valley residents and visitors connect with each other over a love of reading and getting a bargain,” says Lynda Tutty, chair of the Friends of the Library (FOL).

The sale was born 16 years ago as a way to raise funds for the Invermere Public Library. At the time, the library was located in the former RCMP detachment adjacent to the museum before moving to its current location in the Columbia Valley Centre in 2017. This move and the expansion of the collection and the extensive services the library provides to the community require funding on an ongoing basis. That’s where the FOL come in. 

The BIG Book Sale is the premier fundraising vehicle of the FOL. Thousands of books for sale are donated by generous people in the community. 

Almost daily throughout the year, a dedicated team of volunteers empties the book donation bin, checks the publication date and condition, sorts them by genre and boxes them in preparation for the sale. 

Volunteers Helen Kipp and Betty Anne Goodwin (bottom photo) have been busy sorting donated books of all genres.

On sale day, 25 or more volunteers jump into action at about 6:30 a.m. setting up tents, tables, signage, and unboxing the books. Eager bibliophiles start lining up at 8 a.m. snaking across the courthouse parking lot and down the street. From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. about a thousand people attend the sale. 

Collectively, the volunteers have hundreds of hours of experience that allow them to know what will sell. For several reasons, not all books will make it to the sale tables. Older and damaged book (broken spines, missing pages or covers, water stained, and those with mildew or mould) do not sell. 

The Friends of the Library welcome donations of gently used books and jigsaw puzzles right up until the day of the sale on August 3. Books can be dropped off in the donation bin in front of the book donation centre beside the court house at any time.