BY JAN NARY
“I guess there are never enough books.” John Steinbeck
Despite the upsurge in electronic books, it seems that the good old paper variety is still a firm favourite with a lot of readers. That’s good news for the North Stradbroke Island Marine Rescue Unit, which over a decade has benefited from thousands of dollars raised at their annual Bookfest. That’s a lot of money raised from an annual event at which the books sell for $2 each.
Richard Dunn, coxswain and Marine Rescue past unit commander, says that the annual festival began in 2014 when a Point Lookout philanthropist donated his extensive library to Marine Rescue.
“It was decided to form a group of volunteers, headed by Ursula Cotterill, to hold a jumble sale including the books. The event was a huge success, especially the books, so it was decided to run a Bookfest every September during school holidays.
“In recent years, Ursula has been joined at the helm by Debra Dunn. All the fiction goes to Debra, and she sorts the books alphabetically by author. Ursula is the drop-off point for books, and she deals with sorting all the non-fiction donations into categories and organises volunteers for the sale days.”
The Marine Rescue crew provides the sale day muscle; transporting the books and setting up the tables to a design from retired architect Frank Way. They also run a very popular sausage sizzle featuring local produce from the Dunwich Butchery and bread rolls from local Dunwich Baker Martin Pie.
Richard says that most donations come from locals and holidaymakers.
“The fastest sellers are kids’ books,” he says. “It’s great to see the youngsters enjoying a sausage sizzle and engrossed in a book. They often finish the book in one go, donate it back and buy another one. Adults on holidays look for escapism and fiction; they’ll track down their favourite author and maybe try a few they don’t know; at two dollars a book you can afford to go a bit mad!”
The 2025 Bookfest will take place in the Point Lookout Community Hall on 27 and 28 September. To make a donation or for more information, call 0467 162 933 or email [email protected].
