For months Virginia Gillham hasn’t been able go anywhere in the city without people asking if she found a new home for The Guelph Giant Book Sale. On Tuesday, the chair of the Friends of Guelph Public Library received some pleasant news.
“This morning at about nine o’clock I was made aware that we can, in fact, use the Huron Street property that we have used for the last two years,” Gillham told GuelphToday on Wednesday.
Gillham has been working feverishly for months trying to find a new home for the group’s premier fundraising event, which features 100,000 used books and other items on sale over three days in October.
The group was looking for a large, donated space to hold the sale because she did not think the venue they had used for the past two years would be available this fall.
“We are our own worst enemy in that it’s so successful and large now. People tend not to realize that we need (the space) for more than just the week of the sale,” said Gillham.
In fact, the group needs the space for about two months for the 200 volunteers to accept and organize the items that come in each year.
Gillham said the property manager of 69 Huron Street told her earlier this year that he had leased the space to someone who was using it for storage.
“He wasn’t sure how long they were going to stay,” said Gillham. “Apparently, they are not going to stay through August, so that’s good.”
As a result, Gillham said volunteers will began taking donations at the site right after the August holiday weekend.
This will be the twelfth year for the book sale. Gillham said it grows every year.
“For the last three years, we have cleared $100,000 each year and we have 100,000-ish items on offer,” she said.
The money collected at the sale has gone toward Library projects like a $10,000 endowment fund, the recent outfitting of a new Bookmobile or the Books for Babies program started last year.
The bulk of the money collected is being saved for a very special day.
“Most of the revenue is invested because — we should all live so long — when we turn the sod for a new library, we will be able to give a major gift to the library. There’s over $600,000 invested for that purpose now,” said Gillham.