Dannevirke Lions' book sale set to be a pearler

Volunteer Pauline Court fills a trestle table with non-fiction books. Photos / Sue Emeny

It was all hands on deck in Dannevirke Town Hall yesterday as Dannevirke Host Lions prepared for their 30th annual book sale which started today at 9am.

With more than 40,000 donated books on sale Tararua book lovers will be spoilt for choice.

It's being called a Pearler of a Book Sale in honour of its 30th anniversary and large oyster shells adorn the stage to mark the occasion.

A total of 87 trestle tables were stacked with books yesterday by a team of 20 Lions and volunteers.

This year non-fiction books slightly outweigh the number of fiction books but there are still thousands to choose from.

Non-fiction books have been sorted into subjects while fiction books are sorted alphabetically by author.

Around 90 per cent of the books for sale are priced at just $1.

There's an impressive collection of coffee table books and some quite rare and valuable editions for which local book collectors will be competing with book dealers to buy.

But it's not just books that are for sale. There are hundreds of jigsaws, games, and a great collection of things musical from vinyl records, CDs, sheet music to boxed sets of recordings.

There's also a huge collection of magazines for sale on all manner of subjects.

The Lions' book sale is a great opportunity to restock the book shelves for some winter reading.

All 47 members of Dannevirke Host Lions and supporters such as AON Insurance have been involved in preparing for the sale, helping out on the day and packing up any leftovers after the event.

Helpers on the day won't just be just replenishing the stalls and serving at the counter, they will be helping carry books out to cars, manning the grocery raffle and providing entertainment by playing the piano.

The sale opens at 9am and runs till 5pm from today until Saturday and from 10am till 3pm on Sunday.

Book buyers are advised to bring their own bags.