It's the best place to get the best deals on books.
And the 32nd annual Rotary Book Sale is just around the corner. This year's sale will take place from Oct. 16 to Oct. 22 at the Chilliwack Mall.
The books are collected all through the year, through donation boxes strategically located throughout the city. Dedicated volunteers spend 5,000 every year getting ready for the sale, sorting through thousands of titles and pricing them accordingly.
And the prices are incredibly low, to encourage turnaround.
Each year, the Rotarians cart out about 80,000 titles for the sale, all carefully sorted and priced at bargain basement prices. Soft covers generally are priced at $2, hardcovers at $3. Specialty books may be more, but coffee table books that were once priced at $80 will be priced in the $5 range.
And all of the money collected goes toward Chilliwack-based projects and scholarships. The Rotary Book Sale has helped fund the Great Blue Heron Reserve, the Rotary Hall at Chilliwack Cultural Centre, and the Rotary Trails at Vedder and Peach Creek.
They also provide $35,000 in educational scholarships, provide Christmas dinners, and items for other needs-based organizations in Chilliwack. They once bought a new stove for the Ann Davis Transition Society, for example.
The book sale is the largest fundraiser of the year. And even though the selection is large, avid readers are known to line up for hours before the doors open.
So, on Oct. 16 the Chilliwack Mall opens their doors a bit early, at 7 a.m. for book buyers, and closes at 5 p.m.
After that, the sale runs whenever the mall is open through to Saturday, Oct. 24. Regular mall hours are 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., except on Thursdays and Fridays when it's open until 9 p.m.