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A lot of work goes into the Y Service Club's annual Easter book sale.
Year-round, the members (who have an average age of about 84) prepare for the sale by collecting donations, sorting them and storing them.
And their hard work is appreciated, with hundreds having already attended the sale at Mundy Street's Tom Tweed Stadium within the first few hours of the weekend-long event.
Book sale co-ordinator Phil Byrne said there were people beginning to line up for the sale two hours ahead of opening, and by the time the doors opened, the queue stretched around the corner.
"It was like a Myers sale," Mr Byrne said of the initial rush.
He said the low cost and the quality of the books, CDs and DVDs on offer made the sale a popular event year after year.
The sale attracts more than your average book reader, with collectors and owners of secondhand book shops making the trip to Bendigo.
Donations to the sale are collected throughout the year via a bin outside the stadium, which has to be emptied throughout the week, all year long.
This means thousands of books go out for sale during the Easter weekend.
School holidays meant the club and volunteers from the CFA had three days to put the books out on display this year, Mr Byrne said, but in the past they had done it within a few hours the night before.
All the proceeds of the books sold go towards local charities.
Doors will remain open until 5pm on Good Friday.
It will run 9am to 5pm Saturday and Easter Sunday, and 9am to 1pm Monday.
Outside the sale this year, as always, are volunteers collecting donations for the Royal Children's Hospital's Good Friday Appeal.
Among them is Hannah Wust, whose three-year-old daughter Shiloh has a rare condition that means regular trips.
Shiloh was diagnosed at eight-weeks-old with a condition known as KHE, which affects the blood vessels.
She requires ongoing treatment and is currently on a trial of medication that she must take twice daily, but is otherwise well.
Hannah said the family always gave to the appeal, but she had begun collecting the past two years following Shiloh's contact with the hospital.
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Natalie Croxon
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
