The Life Line Book Fair - My Plan
Jan. 19th, 2007 09:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
melwilAttention Brisbane-ites! The Life Line Book Fest has been brought forward by a week! Starts tomorrow at 8am!
For the non-Brisbane-ites, the Life Line Book Fest is this HUGE book fair that is held twice a year. Run by a charity, two massive halls at the Convention centre are filled with second hand books for 5 days - with a tonne of bargains available.
Lots of people go to the Life Line book fest, but if you're serious about it, you need to have a plan. I'm getting pretty good at this, after quite a few years of it, and I've been refining my plan for this visit.
1. Be there when the doors open at 8am tomorrow morning.
All the crazies are there first, and there's usually a few elbows thrown as the crowds surge through the doors. For someone like me, who beelines for the brilliant children sections, there's ten year old girls and book dealers to get around - and early start is good for that.
2. Distract the ten year old girls.
Inevitably, there will be ten year old girls wanting the same Baby-Sitters Club book you've been hunting for since before they could read. Distract them with great books you already own.
3. Plan out a route
There are three sections in the book fest - High Quality (with higher prices) Priced (decent quality with prices from 50c) and Unpriced (poor quality, but usually some suprises - find Grandma on the tills to get good prices)
I always begin with the Priced section, because that's where I spend most of the money. There's usually not much in the High Quality section for me - so I usually skim through it after looking for books I can't live without. Then down to the Unpriced section for suprises and books for school.
When I get in the sections, I go straight for the children's tables - they tend to have the best books by far, because people will throw out their good children's books, but not their good adult books. Then reference, for teaching resources; arts for dancing books and whatever else catches my attention there.
4. Dress for the occasion
Comfy jeans and shirt, good shoes. Not negotiable. Your hands and shirt will probably get dusty/dirty. You'll be on your feet for a long time. Comfort is essential.
5. And bring your bags
Some people bring small trolleys to the book fest. Others load up cardboard boxes. Personally, I think green bags are the way to go, especially if you have to walk any distance on the way home. They're strong, fit easily into a back pack on the way down, and are fairly easy to carry through the tables.
6. Select your books
My way to get books is to take everything I could want to begin with. When the bag gets too heavy, or you've reached the end of the tables, go through the bags and decide what you really want, (or what you can afford) Return the others to their tables.
7. Return on the last day
Bag of books for $5. You cannot go wrong. They restock each day, so there's always new books there.
For the non-Brisbane-ites, the Life Line Book Fest is this HUGE book fair that is held twice a year. Run by a charity, two massive halls at the Convention centre are filled with second hand books for 5 days - with a tonne of bargains available.
Lots of people go to the Life Line book fest, but if you're serious about it, you need to have a plan. I'm getting pretty good at this, after quite a few years of it, and I've been refining my plan for this visit.
1. Be there when the doors open at 8am tomorrow morning.
All the crazies are there first, and there's usually a few elbows thrown as the crowds surge through the doors. For someone like me, who beelines for the brilliant children sections, there's ten year old girls and book dealers to get around - and early start is good for that.
2. Distract the ten year old girls.
Inevitably, there will be ten year old girls wanting the same Baby-Sitters Club book you've been hunting for since before they could read. Distract them with great books you already own.
3. Plan out a route
There are three sections in the book fest - High Quality (with higher prices) Priced (decent quality with prices from 50c) and Unpriced (poor quality, but usually some suprises - find Grandma on the tills to get good prices)
I always begin with the Priced section, because that's where I spend most of the money. There's usually not much in the High Quality section for me - so I usually skim through it after looking for books I can't live without. Then down to the Unpriced section for suprises and books for school.
When I get in the sections, I go straight for the children's tables - they tend to have the best books by far, because people will throw out their good children's books, but not their good adult books. Then reference, for teaching resources; arts for dancing books and whatever else catches my attention there.
4. Dress for the occasion
Comfy jeans and shirt, good shoes. Not negotiable. Your hands and shirt will probably get dusty/dirty. You'll be on your feet for a long time. Comfort is essential.
5. And bring your bags
Some people bring small trolleys to the book fest. Others load up cardboard boxes. Personally, I think green bags are the way to go, especially if you have to walk any distance on the way home. They're strong, fit easily into a back pack on the way down, and are fairly easy to carry through the tables.
6. Select your books
My way to get books is to take everything I could want to begin with. When the bag gets too heavy, or you've reached the end of the tables, go through the bags and decide what you really want, (or what you can afford) Return the others to their tables.
7. Return on the last day
Bag of books for $5. You cannot go wrong. They restock each day, so there's always new books there.
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no subject
on 2007-01-19 12:37 am (UTC)*goes to call boyfriend and make him come*
no subject
on 2007-01-19 12:37 am (UTC)no subject
on 2007-01-19 03:55 am (UTC)I've got about 15 Baby-Sitters to go to finish my collection.
My real, and rather less interesting, purpose for going is to stock up on books for my classroom. Of course I'll have to have everything from picture books to novels considering how diverse my class will be *eeeek*