Local resident Keith Elliot dedicates his free time to help raise funds for the Sandton Library through the Friends of Sandton Library.
Elliot has long been a member of the library and in 2004 volunteered to join the committee. He soon became the chairman of Friends of Sandton Library and has acted in the role since then. “Our only task is to raise funds for our library, we’re completely voluntary and don’t take a penny from the sales,” said Elliot.
The monthly Sandton Library Book Sales are known for their quality and value. All the proceeds from the sales go to the library. Once a week, Elliot collects the books and organises them at the library. Then once a month Elliot, along with the other Friends of Sandton Library members sort the books into genres for the sale.
He is proud that every single book that is donated finds a use. Those which are not in the best condition and not suitable to be sold are donated to school librarys. Most of the money raised from the sales is then used to buy new books for the library.
Margaret Houliston, the manager for library and information services in Region E, said,
“The Friends [of Sandton Library] allow us to buy books for all parts of our library including children’s books, study books and the latest novels and, very importantly, it also funds our daily and weekend newspapers.”
Much to Elliot’s delight, the sales are well supported and the amount of money raised from them has continued to grow. In the time that he has volunteered as a ‘friend’ Elliot has come across some rare gems.
He fondly recalls coming across a book with some of South African artist Irma Stern’s paintings, from her Zanzibar period, which was sold for over R3 000.
Elliot’s passion for helping the library is evident as he sorts through the numerous books that are donated and assists fellow book lovers as they search for the perfect purchase.
