Launceston Bookfest lovers brave morning queues for crack at 50,000 titles

Literature lovers began queuing at Door Hope from 7.50am to have first crack at a selection of 50,000 bargain books, all of which have been donated to City Mission in the past year.

Sixty people piled into the room when doors opened at 9am and the room was still packed an hour later.

By 4pm Saturday, Bookfest project manager Lee Pennington hopes to have surpassed last year's intake of $30,000, which supports City Mission's services in Northern Tasmania.

"I'd like to sell every single one of them," Mr Pennington said.

"Normally we get 70-80 percent sales, we don't take a lot back.

"What doesn't sell will go out to the retail, and anything spare will go to the North-West Coast so people can look at them there."

READ MORE: ALDI calling: the stores you most want to see in Launceston

Mr Pennington estimated the event had quadrupled in size since 2019, when it was held in a smaller room at the same venue.

The most expensive item at this year's event was an 1870 William Collins Sons & Co bible, which retails at $3500 and was selling for $1000, but most items were priced at single figures.

"We try and give everyone the best value we can," said Belinda Ratnik, City Mission's general manager of social enterprise.

"The majority of stuff is coming through at $2 or $3 - if someone's trolley is full you're looking at a couple of hundred dollars they're putting through.

"It's just been beautiful to watch some of the wonder of the kids, watching the families go 'yep you can have this one' - it will keep them going for the holidays."

READ MORE: Election agony to resurgence - the rise of Rosemary Armitage

Bookfest continues from 9am Saturday and is expected to attract several thousand people across its two days.

Mrs Ratnik said City Mission accepted donations all year round and encouraged anyone interested in volunteering in the books department to make contact.

"Every single book that comes in gets checked for quality and everything else to determine what the price is," she said.

"Our books department is our smallest area volunteer base-wise, so it'd be handy to have another few sets of hands."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: