Tawny investigative reporter Bryan Wittawhy unearths how on earth Lifeline Northern Beaches seamlessly bring a GIANT Book Fair to life.
I’m sure just about everyone on the Northern Beaches is aware of the Northern Beaches Lifeline Book Fairs that happen four times a year: two at St Augustine’s College, Brookvale and two at Forestville Memorial Hall. They have been happening for more than twenty years and raise much needed money that goes towards Lifeline’s Telephone Crisis Support Centre.
But do you know what happens behind the scenes at Lifeline’s Book Depot in Roger St, Brookvale? It’s not all just tea and biscuits (although there is a bit of that). Here is a Tawny exposé of the day-to-day goings-on at the book depot.
Lifeline Book Depot is crewed by over one hundred and twenty volunteers (not all at one time), primarily semi-retired booklovers from the Northern Beaches, who put their time and energies into a fantastic cause. It really is a well-run operation, and the volunteers should be commended on their finely-tuned skills and processes – because the outcome is awesome.
It may look like chaos, with interesting stacks of books strewn around the depot, but I can assure you that every single person knows precisely where things should go. There is seldom a moment in the depot without movement or chit chat – except at Monday’s Tai Chi class.
Also, there’s a signage team of twenty people whose jobs are to get those big blue signs out there so we all know when and where the next book fair is happening – important stuff. They also gather the signs up when the fairs are completed.
Donations to the depot are dropped off at the depot’s side entry – CDs, LPs, video games, puzzles and a few other resalable things are also accepted. All items are then sorted by a very experienced team, who sort into various categories and subcategories. Extremely worn out and soiled items may be discarded at this stage.
Books are then distributed to a category manager’s worktable, of which there are currently sixty-six individual categories – some managers may handle two or more categories. Some of the categories include children’s books, music, cooking, collectables, sport and art. Fiction is divided into their own categories including romance, thrillers, sci-fi and heaps more. Books are priced by the managers – always reasonable prices – and boxed up. The boxes are then put on to pallets and loaded into vans ready to transport to the fair.
Some of the very collectable books that may secure a good price are posted to eBay and occasionally large sets of rare antique books are sent to auction houses who auction off the sets on Lifeline’s behalf, to libraries or good homes, where they hopefully have a new and happy life.
Not all books go to the fairs – some find their way to the various Lifeline outlets dispersed throughout the Northern Beaches.
All money from sales goes to funding the Telephone Crisis Support Centre that takes calls from people in distress.
Your donations can make a huge difference and the Lifeline Book Depot team strongly appreciate the fantastic support from the Northern Beaches, and beyond.
Learn more about Lifeline Northern Beaches online at www.lifelinenb.org.au and to make a donation to support crucial, local Lifeline services, visit www.lifelinenb.org.au/local