$2500 boost for library stock

THE fundamentals of recycling certainly aren’t lost on the Friends of Corner Inlet Library, with the group helping the Foster branch secure $2500 worth of new DVDs. 

 The profits for their purchase came from the two mega sales the group hosts each year. 

“That money came from the book sales we had here in Foster. We sent that money across to West Gippsland Libraries’ regional support centre in Warragul, with a list of titles locals said they fancied over several months,” Friends’ treasurer Christine McKinlay said.  

 “We ended up with all these. There’s a number of series and ones like The Cry and things like that. We also have a number of movies and documentaries. We hoe that in July, when we have the book sale again, that we will send off some more money to get a few more.” 

 The sales have become a big event on the local calendar and are renowned as one of the best ways of collecting a book bargain. The most recent summer sale raised more than $3500, while the winter sales usually record profits of around $3000. 

 Stocks included cancelled library books, along with donated books and DVDs. 

 “The books are set up in categories. If you’re into murder mysteries, you can go straight to them. You don’t have to ferret through everything else. There’s a huge children’s section, which is three for a dollar and the adult books are two for a dollar – 50c each,” Chris said. 

 “It’s a Foster thing now. It’s been happening for quite some years. The first time we made $250 and we thought that was fantastic.” 

 Chris has been a member of the group since before the Foster Library first opened. 

 “Friends of the Library was formed in about 1993, because there was only the Mobile Library here. There were a number of us who had come into the town and were used to a static library. We badgered and scrimped and saved and pleaded. Finally, we got this library,” she said. 

 “It was a people’s thing. Then we hit upon this idea of, what do people do with books they don’t want? Believe it or not, people are still buying lots of books, despite the digital age. There’s nothing quite like browsing through books. 

 “For children if you start them off when they’re young – and they do here at the library, with Story Time and Baby Rhyme Time – you’re getting them appraising a book. You wouldn’t go and read a bed time story from a tablet.”  

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