Volunteers needed to help with book distribution for bushfire victims

• suemckerracher@aol.com

05 October 2009Residents of the bushfire areas have told us they are now ready to received some much wanted reading material, so we need your help and expertise. Why? 182 pallets of books are being stored - this is around half a million books...

In the immediate aftermath of the Victorian bushfires in February, book lovers from all over Victoria generously donated thousands of new and used books to the bushfire relief effort. At the time it was deemed to be inappropriate to distribute the books, as people were struggling with finding a roof to put over their heads, let alone managing books to fill lost homes. Along with many, many other donated items these precious books have been safely stored until they can find new homes.
 
Residents of the bushfire areas have told us they are now ready to received some much wanted reading material, so we need your help and expertise. Why? 182 pallets of books are being stored - this is around half a million books. Some are new, some are good quality second-hand, the others need to be separated out and destroyed. They are all stored in mixed boxes in the VBRRA warehouse in Clayton. Sue McKerracher, ALIA Disaster Recovery Project Manager has organised two book-sorting weeks. Now we just need an army of skilled volunteers to help decide which books are best to pass on to bushfire victims, which need to be sold as fundraisers and which should be recycled!
 
The dates are 5 - 9 October and 26 - 30 October inclusive, from 10am to 5pm.  The address is the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority, Door 8, 1508 Centre Road, Clayton South 3169.  It will be hard work, but it's also fun unearthing the odd unexpected treasure and it will be quite sociable, with a generous supply of tea, coffee and biscuits.  If people are willing to come along please email suemckerracher@aol.com. All help is gratefully received, even if it's only for a couple of hours.
 
Bring a colleague, some old clothes, a sense of adventure and your collection development skills.