Thousands of pre-loved books formed a colourful mosaic as they covered tables within The Pavilion at Bega Showground, on July 7-8, raising close to $9000 for the Bega Rotary club's community projects.
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The event which which took place on Friday and Saturday invited bibliophiles and book lovers alike to purchase publications from a range of genres and authors, with the funds raised going back into the Bega Valley.
Coordinator of the Book Fair and Rotary Club of Bega treasurer Charlie Blomfield said there is still a desire for tangible books in a world focused on screens.
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"People say books are dying, and certainly there's a move to some electronic aspects to of it, but still there's a very high demand for something you can actually hold, and look [at], and make easy for reference, you don't have to log-on," Mr Blomfield said.
"[The Book Fair] gives us funds to be able to put back into the community, support youth in the community, and also a couple of the overseas international projects that Rotary's heavily involved with.
"Probably the main [projects] at the moment are providing scholarships with the University of Wollongong for local nurses, and also support for Sapphire coast community aged care, we run the RYDA program which is the Rotary Youth Driver Awareness program, and a number of other programs that we're looking seriously at."
The Winter Book Fair will be the final of its kind for the immediate future due to Bega Showground's redevelopment into a community evacuation centre, while the redevelopment also means Rotary's second-hand book storage has been lost.
"With the showground development, we probably won't be able to have another book fair for probably at least a couple of years, and [it] also provides an issue for us with being able to find storage and anything like that," Mr Blomfield said.
"If there were any businesses who had a shopfront or had a shop that they're looking for someone to be able to utilise, for a peppercorn rent, because we don't want to use up any community money, we'd certainly be interested to hear from them."
To contact Rotary Club of Bega or for more information: click here
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Jimmy Parker
I am a regional daily news journalist on the Far South Coast of NSW aiming to immortalise the stories of everyday people through narratives. Have you got a story? Contact me on 0437 166 441 or at james.parker@austcommunitymedia.com.au
I am a regional daily news journalist on the Far South Coast of NSW aiming to immortalise the stories of everyday people through narratives. Have you got a story? Contact me on 0437 166 441 or at james.parker@austcommunitymedia.com.au
