The cops arrived a few minutes after the last customers left the Times Colonist Book Sale on Sunday afternoon.
They came from the VicPD station next door, and they had a simple request: Could they take some of our unsold pocketbooks for guests in the cells?
Of course they could. We gathered a selection — everything from Eat, Pray, Love to Farley Mowat to, yes, crime novels — that we thought might be of interest to a captive audience. The officers arrived with their hearts in the right place and they left with their arms full of books.
Other books not sold during our two-day sale are already in schools, thrift shops, homeless shelters and beyond. They were hauled away, for free, on Monday, when non-profit organizations were welcome to take whatever they would like.
Our book sale truly is a gift that keeps on giving.
This was the 20th edition, and the eighth sale in the Victoria Curling Club, on the same block as the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre and, conveniently, the VicPD.
We raised $167,000 for school libraries and literacy work in our coverage area. We helped people clean their book shelves, and then, two weeks later, fill some of those annoying empty spaces.
Who is “we”? More than just the Times Colonist, its staff members and former staff members, and their friends and family. More than the couple of hundred volunteers who seem to represent every demographic possible, and who come together for a month every year because of a love of books, of reading and of the desire to help the community.
The sale would not be possible without them — but it would also not be possible without the thousands of people who drop off books for us, and who buy books from us. And let’s not forget our business partners who provide us with goods and services.
“We” is all of us, the entire community. We work together to make this an even better place to live.
After two decades, the sale has become a smooth operation. The volunteers, the donors, the buyers and the cops all know the drill. This year’s sale saw more books donated than ever before, and more sold than ever before. More people came through on Saturday and Sunday than ever before.
One buyer on Sunday mused that if the book-drive volunteers had been working on Greater Victoria’s sewage project, it would have been finished years ago. That might be a bit of a stretch, but we will take it as a compliment anyway.
Once again, we will be able to give out more money than we took in during the sale. That is because of private donations, corporate donations and matching funds from the province. For 13 years, the provincial government, working through Decoda Literacy Solutions, has added to the pot.
In the first 19 years of the sale, we handed out $4.7 million. By the time we deliver the cheques from the most recent sale, our total will top $5 million. That is an amazing amount, and the entire community should be proud.
But it’s not only about the numbers. The Times Colonist Book Sale has become a major event every spring, and a vital part of life in Greater Victoria.
It is without equal in Canada. It is another reason why Victoria is special; it is another reason to celebrate life here.
Books not sold during the sale days, or taken by non-profits afterward, are bundled up and shipped to a company in the United States that raises money for charities. The books you donated could end up anywhere on the planet.
Right now, some of the books donated this year are in the hands of prisoners languishing in the cells at VicPD headquarters.
Some of those books might go missing when the prisoners are released, but that’s OK. Stealing a used paperback from a cell shouldn’t really be seen as a crime, right? There are bigger sins to worry about.
Besides, by next May, we will have a new batch of books for all of you — and also for the unfortunate souls in the cells — thanks to our literate, engaged community.
To all of you, our heartfelt thanks.
