Te Puke Kiwicoast Lions Club members have been working tirelessly since January to collect and sort thousands of books – now it’s time for the reading worms to wriggle in and devour them!

This week, the club’s 29th annual book fair is being run during Matariki weekend, from June 28-30.

And there will be more books than ever before due to the gifting of books from two other Lions clubs in the district, which has meant calling on friends and family to help out.

“Club members are grateful to have the help of Nick [de Hoog] who picks up the books from the Te Puke drop-off spots and does the heavy lifting during the book sorts, and to the partners who help out when needed,” says convenor Maxine Shanks.

“Paper Plus Te Puke has been extremely helpful with printing all the flyers that have been circulated around town and the club is very grateful for all their help. “Mpac has also been extremely helpful with providing sponsorship for the advertising.”

A past Te Puke Kiwicoast Lions Club book sale.

The club will have the help of Te Puke High School’s first XI football team to help with the set-up.

“These boys not only help set out all the tables but lift all the boxes of books for the ladies. Without them, the book fair would not be possible.”

The club will also have the help of the Te Puke High School’s first and second XI hockey teams to help with the pack down on Sunday afternoon.

“These teams are changing their training schedule to help us. There are books for all ages so go along during the weekend, get some winter reading or puzzles, DVDs, CDs or LPs and support the club’s latest projects.”

The sale is at Te Puke Memorial Hall from 8am to 6pm on June 28, 9am-5pm on June 29, and 9am-3pm on June 30.