To Volunteer for the 2026 Booksale

1) Choose an activity from the list below – everything from pre-sale setup to post-sale cleanup

2) If you see a SIGNUP button   in the activity description it means that this activity is open and ready to accept volunteers. Buttons for Sale Days and Post Sale will be added in the fall.

3) Click on the SignUp button for the activity (ies) of your choice. This will take you to a schedule on the SignUp website.

4) Follow the instructions on the SIGNUP website to find the shifts for which you want to volunteer. Note that a number of the activities require you to sign up for a training shift as well as regular work shifts.

While we encourage you to sign up for multiple activities, please sign up for only ONE activity per 3-hour shift.

We are sorry if your chosen activity is full, and kindly ask you to consider volunteering in an another area that still has openings.

Volunteers are needed in the morning of September 9 at Clark’s Self Storage Units, 7077 County Rd 124, to load the rental truck with our equipment and furniture and then to go to Bamco to unload the truck.

Volunteers are needed in the afternoon of September 9 at the Bamco site to prepare the site for Donations Receiving, Sorting and Diversion – to set up tables and bookcases, to clean as needed, and to set out signage.

To volunteer, please use the SignUp button below.
Click to View Volunteer Opportunities on SignUp
For more information, please contact Lynn Allen, Activity Coordinator, at saledays@fgpl.ca

Donations Receiving 

In this activity you will be required to lift and move boxes and bags from a donor’s vehicle to a trolley, then roll the trolley to  designated areas within the building. You must be able to lift and move items that may weigh up to 30 lbs. without difficulty. Shifts vary in length but are generally 2 to 3 hours.
 
To choose your work shifts, please use the SignUp button below.

Click to View Volunteer Opportunities on SignUp
For more information, please contact Jacki at donations@fgpl.ca

We are sorry to say that we have booked all of our volunteers for this activity for this sale. If new openings become available we will open up the SIGNUP again.
You may email the Sorting Coordinator to have your name added to a wait list if some volunteers drop out.

Please consider volunteering for other activities that still have openings.

For more information, please contact the Sorting Coordinator, Christine, at sorting@fgpl.ca

Diversion” is responsible for dealing with all items that are unsuitable for the sale. We take in books and other items from the Sorting areas, and conduct a secondary inspection to divert as many items as possible into two salvage streams: 1) good condition books to FUNDrive, a program which generates further income for the Book Sale, and 2) reasonable condition books to our “Free Shop”, for dispersal to volunteers, community organizations and charities. The rest goes into recycling and garbage. We also deal with disposal of excess cardboard boxes on site.

There is a mandatory training shift for both new and returning volunteers – this shift will be a combination of training and actual work experience. The training shifts will take place during the week of September 14 – 19. We ask each volunteer to sign up for 1 training shift, plus additional work shifts (minimum of 3/maximum of 6, please). All training and work shifts are 3 hours, and include a break.

To choose your training and work shifts, please use the SignUp button below.
Click to View Volunteer Opportunities on SignUp
If you have any questions or difficulties with our SignUp system, please contact the Diversion Co-Coordinator, Kathy, at diversion@fgpl.ca.

Training Shifts for Diversion:
Monday, Sept 14, 6-9pm
Tuesday, Sept 15, 6-9pm
Thursday, Sept 17, 1-4pm
Friday, Sept 18, 10 am–1pm
Saturday, Sept 19, 10 am–1pm

Sale Days and Parking during Sale Days – October 22-25

We need many volunteers for the 4 days of the sale weekend to work inside the sale site or outside as Parking Attendants.

Sale Days volunteers working inside the sale site do Checkout (Tally and Cash), act as Checkout Line, Door and Table Monitors, and bring out books from Overflow to replenish tables.

Sale Days Volunteer Training Days October 13-17
Sale Days volunteers are required to attend a training session. This is important because we make changes to the layout of the site and to procedures based on feedback from the Customer and Volunteer Surveys.

While you should sign up for only one task per shift, we encourage you to sign up for several shifts (and several tasks if you like) over the course of the sale. Volunteers must be physically capable of doing the tasks they sign up for. In addition, Checkout volunteers must have the mathematical ability to perform their tasks.

Parking Attendants, working under the supervision of the Parking Coordinator, assist customers to find a place to park their car. This important role gives customers their first impression of the book sale. A safety vest and flashlight are supplied. Parking Attendants will be trained by the Parking Coordinator and assigned a location to monitor.

To read a description of Sale Days tasks from the 2025 Sale Days Volunteer Training Manual, please click here.

When the Sale Days and Parking schedules are finalized you will be able to sign up to volunteer through our SignUp system. The link will be added here when the schedule is ready.

For further information, please contact Lynn Allen, Sale Days Coordinator, at saledays@fgpl.ca

It ain’t over til it’s over!

We need plenty of strong (and some not-so strong) people to help us clean up the book sale site. There are a whole variety of tasks: tables, chairs and other book sale paraphernalia must be prepared for transport, the space will need cleaning and the left-over books and media must be packed up. Once again we will be using easy-to-fill 4ft square crates.

There will be morning, afternoon, and evening shifts, so whatever your schedule we hope you can find time to help in some capacity. Moving tables, breaking down cardboard, or packing crates is as good as a trip to the gym and possibly more fun.  Join the Post Sale clean-up crew for a different kind of work-out!

There is no mandatory training session. Volunteers will receive task-related instructions as needed. Shifts are three hours long with breaks whenever necessary.

When the Post Sale volunteer schedule is finalized you will be able to sign up to volunteer through our SignUp system. The link will be added here when the schedule is ready.

For more information, please contact Nancy, Post Sale Coordinator at postsale@fgpl.ca.

Additional Notes:

All Training sessions, and sale-related activities, will take place at the sale site, Bamco Custom Woodworking, 440 Elmira Rd. N., Guelph
Parking at the sale site is very limited. Please try to CAR POOL or get dropped off whenever possible.
All volunteers will be asked to complete a Volunteer Information form and to adhere to the FGPL Code of Conduct.
The sale coordinators make every effort to assign you to a task of your choice, but may ask you to move to a task where volunteer help is more urgently needed.