Sydney University to open annual book fair this weekend

By WILL THORPE

Crowds are set to descend on the University of Sydney’s Great Hall from Saturday 14 – Tuesday 17 September with the 37th annual Chancellor’s Committee Book Fair!

Books to be sold cover a wide range of topics, fiction and nonfiction, academic to romantic. One of the committee’s two key initiatives alongside its gift shop, this year’s event will for the first time run in collaboration with suicide prevention charity Lifeline.

According to the Chancellor’s Committee, the two organisations “share a commitment to education, community engagement and mental health support awareness.”

“Funds raised at this year’s Book Fair will fund university projects supported by the Chancellor’s Committee and provide Australians experiencing emotional distress with access to 24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention services.”

Lifeline is now accepting donations for next year’s book fair – books, DVDs and CDs can be donated at drop locations at the Wesley Mission on Pitt Street, and in Carlingford, Sylvania and Ermington.

Funds raised from the book fair have financed bursaries for disabled and Indigenous students, as well as grants to students; just last year, the university gave $52,700 went to bursaries and grants. Among the groups the committee has supported is the university’s Rocketry Team, winners of the 2022 Spaceport America Cup, as well as helping to restock the books of Lismore Library following extreme damage in the 2022 floods.

According to the university, the fair rescues scores of books from landfill, with previous years seeing 50,000 books put on sale. It’s recommended to come in the first two days for the most popular books, and in the latter two for the greatest bargains.

The decision by the university management to share the event with Lifeline provoked some controversy among the volunteer-run Chancellor’s Committee, with some members petitioning Vice-Chancellor Mark Scott to meet with the group.

According to Director of Alumni and Supporter Experience Kate May, the Alumni department at the university approached Lifeline to help financially support the event. Half the profits will go to Lifeline, whilst the other half will go back into running the fair. Announcing the changes to committee members, May added that Lifeline “wants to work with us more broadly” beyond the book fair.

Please note that cash payments will not be accepted this year.

USYD Chancellor’s Committee Book Fair
September 14 – 17
Great Hall, University of Sydney
https://www.sydney.edu.au/engage/visit/chancellors-committee.html