Two charity champions will this year hold a final mammoth booksale in Carlton this April to raise cash for local good causes.
ExLibris, who are better known as ‘the masked booksellers’, have held an annual charity book sale at their Carlton home for almost 20 years.
But now Bob and Chris Cann, who organise the event, have announced through their twitter page that they now plan to close down their venture after nearly two decades, with one last sale in April.
They have also invited interested booklovers to take over the Exlibris.
The event will be open to the public each Friday-Monday from April 15 until May 2 at their property on Vernon Avenue.
During the sale in April, the charity will also be collecting tins of vegetarian food for Netherfield food bank.
Famous for their unique masks worn by booksellers, Exlibrs started rescuing books in 2006 and selling them cheaply.
Since then, they have raised and distributed £24,636.85 to lots of different local good causes with main beneficiaries being Nottingham & Notts Refugee Forum, Hayward House end of life care, Nottingham Green Festival, We R Here, Sharewear, Host Nottingham.
Chris explained why it was time for them to step down.
She said: “During the spring, the lockdown, we were free
“It was quite nice for us
“It has been 19 years, that’s a long time”
They began rescuing books, first from libraries and then also from increasing numbers of friends and well-wishers who had to clear houses or make space on their shelves
Books were picked off pavements, out of skips, and on one occasion intercepted as they were being chucked, down at the dump.
She added: “ But, it is also possible that we could continue with the sale if this year makes us realise how much we love doing it.
“We rely a lot on support and help from others. We have a few friends whose garage space we use for storage
“We are thankful to all of them, couldn’t have done it without them”
Ex-libris follows in the tradition of Victorian bibliophile Josiah Saithwaite who rescued and sold books very cheaply, pays homage to her by wearing masks.
They have never thrown a book away, with the motto – Books rescued from landfill, landfill rescued from books.
The booksellers have also gathered a number of signatures for a petition against the Nottingham City Council’s move to close down three libraries.
This final book sale is organised after a three-year gap due to pandemic, which could mark an end to 19 yearlong masked book sale era.
More details about the annual book sale can be found at their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/ExLibrisTheMaskedBooksellers/
