Thousands of books change hands at Central Hawke’s Bay Lions Bookarama sale

Books are sorted into genre to make it easy for buyers to find what they are after. Photo / Rachel Wise

Thousands of books changed hands at last month’s CHB Bookarama, raising more than $22,000 for the Central Hawke’s Bay community.

A long line of people waited for the doors to open for the annual three-day sale at the CHB Municipal Theatre in Waipawa, making a beeline for the choice of magazines, LPs, CDs, DVDs, jigsaws and, of course, books.

One of the great features of the Bookarama is that the books are sorted into genres and sections of interest, making it attractive to book lovers, who can target where to search. Many book lovers attended several times over the three days to fill bags.

Thousands of donated books were up for grabs. Photo / Rachel Wise

The Bookarama has become an annual institution for CHB and Hawke’s Bay readers with most books selling for $1-$3.

“All funds raised will be donated back to the community. Fundraising projects are what Lions do to serve their communities,” Takapau Lions president Jo Ward says.

“This year’s Bookarama was another outstanding success. Thank you to everyone who came to buy books. Thank you also to the Takapau Lions team for the countless hours of sorting the books, and the volunteers from Takapau and Waipawa Lions for their work at the event. Thumbs up to the Ruahine Cadets who moved the many boxes of books in and out of the theatre.”

Takapau Lions have already started planning for next year’s Bookarama.