Book bonus

Te Awamutu Rotary’s annual book fair last week has been rated as one the best by organiser Laurel Smith.
A total of $16,500 was raised – compared to $13,000 in 2025 – and funds will support charities including Loving Arms, Riding for the Disabled and Rotary’s Christmas hamper appeal.

The books on offer varied from fiction to non-fiction, with subjects on gardening to war to languages.
At the end of the fair on August 9, Rotary began finding homes for books which had not sold. Some will be stored for the 2027 fair, but others have been gifted to Rototuna’s Rotary Club which holds several fairs a year, a Rotary group which sends them to the Pacific Islands, Waikeria Prison and school libraries.

“We try to find a home for as many books as possible,” said Smith, “The remaining will go to recycling.”

Mathew Pearce is studying the NZ Diploma in Journalism