Not only can buying books expand your horizons, but it can also help those in need. This year, the United Way book sale will be held on all SFU campuses between Nov 17 and Dec 3. Proceeds support local programs that focus on vulnerable children and seniors in poverty throughout the lower mainland.
The book sale is part of a larger campaign that follows a tradition of concentrated fundraising and awareness in the month of November. Last year, $137,684 was raised, and the new target for this year is $175,000.
Having run for over 25 years, the book sale in the North Concourse of the AQ is one of the organization’s keystone fundraisers. The three-day sale (Nov 17 to 19) in Burnaby will now be complemented by day-long sales at Harbour Centre (Nov 19), and Surrey (Dec 3).
Last year’s Burnaby sale included 600 boxes of books and relied on about 60 volunteers, many of whom will be returning this year. Jeff Rudd, the Burnaby book sale coordinator, described the book sale as “a community-driven event. For those volunteering, it can be a place to meet up with people they maybe only see once a year, despite working at the same university.”
According to Rudd, the success of the book sale is partially a result of its scale and status as a staple of the SFU community’s fundraising efforts. “With the volume, the large stock of books, history, and word of mouth, it has come to be known reasonably well off-campus.”
The Burnaby sale continues to be popular, drawing in $14,000 in sales last year from low prices of just a loonie or toonie per book. This is combined with a vast offering of titles across various subjects. Titles could range from mass-produced paperbacks and even occasional copies of university textbooks that retail for over $100.
Rudd noted that sales and used book donations have remained strong and stable. Though most donations are received in the leadup to the sale, they’re accepted and encouraged all year round, since “sorting, packing, and storing books prior to the sale is quite a logistical exercise to do all at once.”
After the sale, leftovers are donated to daycares, seniors homes, and, if no alternative can be found, recycled.
Though the book sale is perhaps the most visible aspect of the campaign, it also includes direct donations, bake sales, and other keystone events like the Faculty Smackdown on Nov 25, and Surrey’s Market on the Mezz on Dec 3.
