Rossland library calls for return of 10,000 books stored in residents' homes during renovations
A community library in the West Kootenays has wrapped up renovations and now all that's missing are its tens of thousands of books.
The Rossland Public Library asked the community to help store its collection of books last September, when it closed for construction.
"We had a very tight budget and storage costs money," said Bev Rintoul, director of the library.
"People kept saying they wanted to help, so, at some point, my brain put those two things together."
Instead of paying storage fees, the library loaned out the books to Rossland residents until renovations were done.
Roughly 10,000 books were taken home by a few hundred people.
"Some people picked [specific books], some just went and took two shelves worth of books," she told Chris Walker, the host of CBC's Daybreak South.
The hardest part for some was figuring out how to get all the books home, Rintoul said. Some people showed up at the library pulling wagons to cart the books away.
'We're just happy'
The library renovations finished last week and, within five days, 6,000 of the books had been returned.
"I'm expecting a lot more to come back this week," Rintoul said.
There won't be any late fees for stranglers returning them slowly, though.
"We're waiving all that, we're just happy people would look after our books for us," she said.
The usual borrowing limit of 50 books per adult and 10 per child will be reinstated.
