Monster book sale to raise money for school

New Plymouth’s Leslie Skipper says her ‘moment of madness’ has turned into a monster.

A monster book sale, that is. On Saturday April 28 Skipper is running a charity book sale to raise money for Waitara High School in the school’s gymnasium from 10am to 2pm.

The idea to organise the event was sparked during a casual chat she had with a few friends when the topic of book fairs that are no longer running came up.

‘‘I felt there was a shortfall. I suppose it was a moment of madness, but I decided well I’ll run one,’’ Skipper said.

The mum-of-four has organised a number of fundraising events in her time and is one to put her money where her mouth is, so-to-speak.

‘‘My parents were get-out-anddoers and I was just brought up that way,’’ she said.

This time Skipper has outdone herself and book-loving bargain hunters can prepare to be blown away by the quality and categories of books on sale. There will be more than 2000 books available to choose from ranging in price from about 10 cents to $2.

In a former life Skipper was a book buyer for a bookstore and confessed to being ‘‘one of those people who always has a book in my hand.’’

‘‘I want to get people reading again. I think this time of year is the time to get stocking up for winter.’’

In preparation for the sale Skipper, while in book collecting mode, put the callout for books to friends and family, as well as via posters and online.

The response was overwhelming surpassing her 2000 book target. Her house is stacked with boxes full of donated books.

‘‘I’m surprised at the great quality of them. I’m also surprised at the terrific response for teen books,’’ she said.

Skipper has scanned cover-tocover through every single book, spending hours to quality check, categorise and alphabetise them. Some might even say obsessively so.

‘‘So I’ve got books in A and B’s and Animals, we’ve got your do-ityourself books, cooks books, gardening books, children’s books, oh and Tie your own flies, that’s for trout fishing...,’’ she said.

All the proceeds from the day will go in part to the drama facility at Waitara High School and into the school’s general fund.

Leslie Skipper has collected thousands of books for the charity book fair.