The 2020 bookless drive fund, which is raising money for literacy work and school libraries, has passed $55,000 in donations, and we are still going strong.
So far, $25,150 has been donated by individuals and organizations. Most donations are in the range of $100 to $250, with many people saying that they would have spent that much at the Times Colonist book sale, if only we had been able to put one on.
The usual drive was cancelled this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, so the Times Colonist Literacy Society had to find a different way to raise money. That led to the direct appeal for donations.
We also staged a book drop-off day in August, with all of the bags and boxes of donated books turned over to Russell Books, which is one of the largest used book dealers in Canada. Russell agreed to pay us an amount based on the quantity and quality of the donations.
It took a while to do a rough count, but the people at Russell finally felt confident to appraise what they had. And – drum roll, please – here is the number on the cheque from Russell: $30,000.
That is almost double what Russell had expected to spend, and the higher donation comes despite costs that were higher than expected as well. Among other things, Russell had to pay to get rid of books that were too rough to be sold.
Beyond that, many of the books donated in August have already made their way into the hundreds of little free libraries found throughout Greater Victoria.
With the money from Russell, we have passed $55,000, and we still have a few days to go. My optimistic side thinks we can make $70,000 before our deadline next week.
That’s almost $100,000 short of the amount we raised last year, when we held a full book drive and sale. But it’s not bad in this pandemic year.
After 22 book drives, which resulted in more than $5 million distributed to school libraries and literacy work, maybe it was time for a change. But given a chance, we will be back in the curling club next year, with tables of books for sale.
As in past years, whatever we raise will be enhanced by additional funding from Decoda Literacy Solutions, which distributes money from the provincial government. The Decoda grant will be based on what we can raise in the community.
Please donate through timescolonist.com; you will see the link to the donation form on the upper right corner.
Thanks for your support.
dobee@timescolonist.com
Direct link for donations: timescolonist.com/1.23601097
