Today’s the day. After two years of pandemic curtailments, the full Times Colonist book drive and sale is back.
Here’s what you need to know for this weekend’s book drive.
• We’ll be collecting books at the Victoria Curling Club (1952 Quadra St.) from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. today and Sunday.
• But we don’t want just any books. Please bring only good-quality used books. Not accepted: encyclopedias, textbooks, magazines, atlases, directories, Reader’s Digest condensed books or National Geographics. These types of items don’t sell and organizers then have to pay to dispose of them.
• To speed up the unloading process, pack books in boxes and bags you don’t want back.
• If you are arriving by automobile, go to the Victoria Curling Club parking lot. The entrance is off Pembroke Street between Quadra and Blanshard. (Don’t come in off Caledonia; the Victoria police need to use that lane.) Please stay in your vehicle while volunteers unload your books.
• There is a separate drop-off box for pedestrians and cyclists at the entrance to the Victoria Curling Club on Quadra Street.
• Want to buy some books? The sale itself will be held in two weeks, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on May 14 and 15, at the curling club.
• The event is organized by the Times Colonist Literacy Society. The non-profit distributes the money raised in the form of grants for school libraries and literacy organizations on Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands. In all, the book sale has raised more than $6 million for literacy-related programs since it began in 1998.
