Rotary
Charity
Book Fair
25-27 Sept
The Hamilton Rotary book fair is a Waikato institution. Each year, thousands of books, DVDs, CDs, records, magazines, jigsaws and games get recycled to raise funds for the community. Traditionally, the book fair has been a three or four day mega-event at the Te Rapa racecourse, but 2020 needs to be different. We need to be smaller, better-spaced, online and easier to navigate. This year we are introducing an evening opening, one-room operation with managed traffic flows, better sorting of fiction and online options for items of special or national interest.
Working together to make the world better
Books online, 
Mini-Fairs and Pop-Ups
Get involved
Donate items for the fair
Books online and Book Fair
The new normal is likely to be different from the old. As well as an annual mega-fair, which draws buyers from far and wide and puts tens of thousands of books in front of thousands of buyers, we need to think in terms of new models which are safe and sustainable. From June 2020, we will be offering selected items online, primarily items of specialist interest, regional significance and collectible status, online via Trade Me. Check out our listings at rototuna.rotary.
Plans are under way for Bookfair 2020 tol be held in the Centennial Lounge at the Te Rapa race course 25-27 September, with a revised format to help with social distancing. Fair dates and times will be:
Friday 25 September 5.30pm to 8.30pm
Saturday 26 September 9am to 5pm
Sunday 27 September 9am to 12 noon.
The fair will occupy one room only, with separate in and out traffic flows. There will still be tens of thousands of books, and they will be the best ones we can find. Fiction will be sorted alphabetically by author. Prices will be very competitive. You won't be disappointed.
How to donate books etc
There are a number of drop-off points around Hamilton city, as well as in Morrinsville and Paeroa, where you can leave donations. Some of our traditional drop-off points are not currently operational because of COVID-19 distancing and contact tracing requirements.
Drop-off points confirmed as currently available are Magic Fresh at Dinsdale Shopping Centre, New World Rototuna, Caltex Chartwell, Jim Wright Nissan opposite The Base in Te Rapa and Glenview Automotive. As new drop-off points are confirmed, we will make announcements on our Facebook page. For larger lots, please call the Bookfair cellphone on 028 417 9040, and we will do our best to collect the items from you.
How to get involved
Each year, it takes more than 1,000 person/hours to screen, sort and price donations for the book fair. Of course it is fascinating to see the enormous range of subjects that people have written books on, but there is also a learning curve in getting know what is popular, what is rare and what we have learnt from 15 years experience in running the book fair.
We are always looking for volunteers who like working with books and who are willing to give up a couple of hours a week, every week (well, except for December and January!) to help with this massive job. Because of distancing rules, we can only have a few people working at a time, and our sorting facilities are fairly primitive at the best of times, so this role demands dedicated people. It helps to know something about books. It also helps to be a bit ruthless, because not everything we get is suitable for sale. And it helps to have a good memory, because we have to remember what we were given last week, last month and last year. Finally, it helps to be fit, because a banana box full of books is not light, and we get to shift an awful lot of banana boxes - about 1,500 a year.
As a volunteer, you receive one perk - the ability to borrow items from the stockpile and return them prior to the sale. You may also have suggestions for how to do things better, but we ask that you spend some time in the system before making your suggestions, as we have tried many innovations over the past 15 years and discovered that some things are not as easy or effective in practice as they sound in theory.
If you think becoming a Friend of Rotary, just to help out with the book fair, sounds like your thing, then call the Bookfair Co-ordinator on 028 417 9040.