Books have new chapter to look forward to

Tucked away in a suburban garage, three good friends are sorting and stacking hundreds of pre-loved books.

The mature folk are also Friends of the Geraldton Library (FOGL) and, according to one, the books they are stacking are friends to all people, young and old.

“Our generation like to feel the pages, touch and hold a book. We’ve grown up with them. Books are our friends, ” Claire Gallichan said.

The trio is busy preparing boxes of books for tomorrow’s “monster” book sale at the Geraldton Regional Library.

This is the second of three sales of second-hand books this year.

The fundraising group hopes to make about $800 from books discarded by the library or have been donated by library users.

They will be sold for between $1 and $3, except for children’s books, which will be 50 cents each.

“Detective stories always sell well and children’s books just walk out the door. Australiana sells reasonably well and books about World War II are popular, as are old classics in good condition, ” Mrs Gallichan said.

FOGL has supported the library for about three decades, with regular donations for projects and resources.

In the past year or two, the group has made financial contributions to the Randolph Stow Young Writers Awards, Big Sky Writers Festival, flights for visiting speakers and a $1600 subscription for an online language education program.

The latter has the potential to teach English to Geraldton Library members whose first language is not English.

Manager of Libraries and Heritage Susan Smith said the library staff appreciated the small but dedicated group of fundraisers.

The book sale will be on between 9.30am and 12.30pm.