Extended hours for book lovers are being credited with helping Variety – The Children’s Charity generate sales in excess of $121,000 during its annual Monster Book Fair at Alexandra Park on July 30 - August 2, 2009 , with total sales the highest to date for the annual event.

Children nationwide will benefit from this extraordinary result with the proceeds going to Variety’s Communications and Literacy programme for the provision of computers and books for schools.

The Book Fair’s traditional opening night was moved to Thursday to allow customers extra time to browse the 80,000 books, which were separated into different categories

“Having an extra day in Friday allowed families time to browse the books before the weekend crowds and BIG FM announcer Suzy Cato’s broadcast from the event added a fantastic element,” said Mary McCutcheon-Walker,  Co-ordinator of the A-Z Book Fair Committee, which organises the event.

“We really rely on community support to make the Variety Monster Book Fair a success,” said Mary.

“Each year the sale is bigger, brighter, and better than the last. We rely on donations from the book-loving public to ensure this year’s sale is another record breaker,” she concluded.

“Variety is so fortunate to have dedicated volunteers like the A-Z Book Fair committee who work tirelessly throughout the year to collect and sort the books – a result like this is the perfect kickstart to Variety New Zealand’s 20^th anniversary celebrations,” said Lorraine Taylor, CEO of Variety – The Children’s Charity.

“We also acknowledge the amazing support of Alexandra Park Function Centre, Four Winds Foundation and BIG FM in helping us reach this result at the Book Fair,” said Lorraine.