Over $620,000 made on Bookfest opening weekend and more books to be unpacked

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 1, 2011: LIFELINE Brisbane is humbled by the support of Brisbane book lovers who, over the weekend, bought over $620,000 worth of books, supporting Lifeline in reaching its target of $1,000,000 by the end of the event.

Bookfest Coordinator Roy Frith said the opening weekend is always the biggest, but there are still plenty of books and bargains to be had.

“Throughout the week over 100 crates of books will be put out for sale – half of these haven’t even hit the tables yet,” he said.

Every night when the doors close, volunteers work through the night to restack the tables and unpack new books ready for another day of bargain hunting.

“It’s definitely worth coming in more than once,” Mr Frith said.

“I’ve seen some faces here everyday,” he said.

While in line to pay for their purchases, one customer overheard another tell the story of how she was buying some books for her children as they lost all of their books in the floods.

In a selfless act of community care, the customer offered to pay for her books, saying this contribution was her way of helping out, one person at a time.

Another customer, Glenis Payne, was at the Bookfest purchasing books for Primary Schools affected by the floods.

“There is definitely a sense of community at the Bookfest,” Mr Frith said.

“There are those who are buying for others, and those who are buying at the Bookfest because they know the profits from their purchases will help others by supporting Lifeline’s community services,” he said.

Profits from the Bookfest will help support Lifeline’s 24-hour Crisis Counselling Line; Lifeline’s disaster recovery program, Community Recovery; free face-to-face counselling; and Financial Counselling sessions.

The Bookfest is open until Sunday Feb 6.

Opening times:
Mon-Friday, Sunday: 8:30am – 5:00pm
Saturday: 8:30am – 8:00pm.
Sunday: 8:30am – 5:00pm