Thanks, one more time, to everyone involved in our record-breaking book drive and sale, which is organized every year in support of school libraries and literacy projects.
I promise I won’t mention it again — well, for a few months, at least.
The 2023 sale raised $263,621.98, which is by far the highest total since we started the fundraiser in 1998.
Thanks to everyone who made this happen — book donors, book buyers, and all those kind people in between, namely the volunteers and sponsors. The sale could not have happened without the tremendous community support that it enjoys.
The sale proceeds will get an added boost from the provincial government by way of Decoda Literacy Solutions. We’ve been told that we will not get as much as we did in past years, but we hope that with the higher sales total, we will not have to reduce the amounts that we give to schools and literacy work.
Miss the sale? Still want to help? That’s entirely possible.
The Golf for Kids organization has been a great supporter of our work for several years. This year, we received $15,000 from them, and that money will be put to work in the community.
The book sale is run by a charitable organization, the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Literacy Society, and yes, the society can provide tax receipts for donations.
Donate by sending a cheque or go online to ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½Helps.org to get an immediate receipt. Either way, we appreciate your support.
You can make a one-time donation or contribute monthly. You can even leave money in your will — whatever works for you will be appreciated.
And finally, a few loose ends.
Every year, our volunteers find odds and ends tucked into books, or in boxes along with books. These items were not meant to be donated, but accidents happen.
Sometimes, the errors are corrected quickly; the box of wine comes to mind, because it was reclaimed so quickly. Other times, we have no luck reuniting readers with items they might want back.
The ashes of a dearly departed cat, for example. I kept the cute little urn on my desk for about a decade, and we mentioned it in columns from time to time.
In the end, I decided that the odds of Fluffy’s owners showing up were about as good as Fluffy coming back to life, so I sent the cat to its final, final reward.
This year, we have been able to reunite most of the finds with their owners. (Let’s face it — a baptism certificate offers clues that make a search easy.)
We would love to hear from the family of Christopher Seymour, because we have something that might be of interest. And we have currency from the other side of the equator that someone probably gave us by mistake.
If these (intentionally unspecified) items could be yours, send an email to me!
Dave Obee is editor and publisher of the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½.
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