Dannevirke: Huge turnout as thousands of books sold

Dannevirke's Janice Bull is a keen crafter and weaver. On Saturday she was hunting out the best weaving books, at the Lions Club book sale in the Town Hall. Photo / Christine McKay

What do you take to a book sale where there are 45,000 books to sort through to find your favourites?

Patience, time and strong shoulders, according to dedicated bookworms who swarmed to the Dannevirke Lions annual sale in the Town Hall last weekend.

By mid morning Sunday, book sale co-ordinator Barbara Ferguson estimated 12,000 books had been sold.

"We had queues of up to 70 waiting for the doors to be opened on Friday and I was nearly mown down in the rush. It was wonderful," she said.

Dannevirke Lion's Club member Maurice Miller was kept busy restacking shelves in the Town Hall.

And bargain hunters continued to flock to the sale over the weekend.

"This has been huge, it's amazing," Mrs Ferguson told the Dannevirke News on Sunday morning. "We've had lots of complimentary remarks about the books and the general atmosphere thanks to the music and our pianist. One chap, who goes to all these second-hand book sales, said this is the best."

Local weaver and artist Janice Bull was putting her patience to the test on Friday as she hunted for special books on weaving.

Readers had plenty to choose from, with 45,000 books, puzzles and magazines at bargain prices.

"At the moment I've snapped up Painted Pieces and Guide to Decorating, but I've still got to find weaving books," she said. "This is a wonderful place and you can always find something different."

And Mrs Bull was rewarded for the time she spent hunting through the thousands of titles.

"I've got it," she said, waving a weaving book in the air.

Dannevirke Lions volunteer Maurice Miller said the Town Hall had been packed from opening time at 9am on Friday, through until 11am and he was kept busy refilling the trestles.

"I'm surprised by the demand," he said.

And it seems authors with names at the beginning of the alphabet were some of the most popular in the fiction section.

"I've been kept busy replacing books in the A, B, C and D category, but Danielle Steel and Wilbur Smith are popular too," Mr Miller said.

And the historic Town Hall was getting the thumbs up too.

"We had a person buy up a carton of books who has just moved from Wellington to Makotuku and it was her first time in this hall. She thought it was wonderful," Mrs Ferguson said.

But for most, it was the well-priced books which were the attraction.

"We've sold beautiful cookbooks for just one dollar," Lions volunteer Debbie Webster said. "One guy spent $8, handed over $20 and told us to keep the change."