From left – Bible Hill Kinsmen President Drew Douglas, Treasurer Geoff Hamlin, Book Fair Committee Chair Brent Pettis, Jeremy DeVito (NovelTea Bookstore Café), Mary Brown (Chair of the Library Foundation), and Nuri Guerra (Campaign Director for Library Foundation)
For Immediate Release
The results of the 1st Annual Colchester Book Fair are in and they are fantastic! The book sale, spearheaded by the Kinsmen Club of Bible Hill and NovelTea Bookstore Café, raised more than $9,000 for the community.
“Due to this overwhelming support, we are able to donate $6,000 of the proceeds to the Colchester East Hants Public Library Foundation,” says Brent Pettis, chair of the Kinsmen’s Book Fair Committee. “That donation was matched by the Snook Group, meaning the foundation is receiving a cheque for $12,000!”
For 51 years, the local branch of the Canadian Federation of University Women ran the book sale. The group decided it no longer had the resources to do it, and looked to the community for someone to take it over. The Bible Hill Kinsmen and NovelTea took on the challenge.
“The book-buying community was more supportive than we could have ever hoped,” says Jeremy DeVito, Owner of NovelTea. “People who had a long tradition of making the Book Fair a must attend event on their calendar were beyond gracious in showing up to continue that tradition with us. We also saw countless people who told us this was their first book fair and ensured us they’d be back in future years.”
Mary Brown, Chair of the Colchester East Hants Public Library Foundation, says the group is thrilled to have the support of the Bible Hill Kinsmen, NovelTea and the Snook Group.
“These much needed funds will help towards outfitting the Teen Program Room at the new library,” says Brown. “The new facility is going to be a wonderful addition to downtown Truro and the community it supports.”
A sincere thank you also goes to the CFUW for their help throughout the transition, as well as library staff and volunteers for their help during the sorting and selling process.
“When we first decided to take this project on, it was for this year only, to see how it would go,” explains Pettis. “However, given the support that we received, we have no doubt we’ll be back for years to come.”
The remaining money from the sale after the donation is made to the Library Foundation will help the Bible Hill Kinsmen support other community initiatives throughout the year.
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For media inquiries:
Quinn McCarthy
Bible Hill Kinsmen
(902) 890-6330
bookfair@biblehillkinsmen.ca