Courtney Phillips, 11, of Woonona at the record-breaking Lifeline Book Fair. Pictures: SYLVIA LIBER
Brian Neighal of Oak Flats.
Kate Radkovic of Mangerton.
Lauren Hall of Cordeaux Heights.
Emily, 8, and Elise, 6, of Albion Park.
Stephanee Horton.
This weekend's Lifeline Big Book Fair was bigger than ever, with more people, more books and more money raised than any of the other fairs held since 2006.
Marketing coordinator Clare Leslie said extended opening hours had boosted the popular sale, but it was a record breaker before it started.
"We had more than 80,000 books donated, with over 12,000 books donated on one day last week, and more volunteers than we've ever had," she said.
"Then on Friday - our first day - we had 1700 people walk through the doors, which was a record and we took in $50,000 in that one day - another record."
By the time the Berkeley stadium doors closed yesterday evening, 5753 booklovers had helped raise $115,553 for suicide prevention. Attendance increased by about 900 people; earnings by more than $9000.
More books meant more space was needed, so the children's section was in a separate room, allowing some of the fair's youngest visitors to browse in their own private library.
A new 'treasure hunt' section allowed those with a keen eye to grab a bargain by hunting through more than 12,000 unsorted books donated by business leaders from around the region.
Regular book fair patron Brian Neighal, of Oak Flats, said the best way to tackle such a massive hall of books was with "no expectations".
"I'm not looking for anything in particular, I'm just browsing," he said.
"But I mostly look in the history and Westerns sections when I come here each year."
For Lake Illawarra librarian Rosanne Travers and her son Dylan, 4, the book sale was a family affair.
"My mum and dad are in the other room looking through books," Ms Travers said.
"We just all really like books, I'm on the look out for interesting books - I found an early edition of [Charles Dicken's novel] Bleak House once - and Dylan loves to find his own in the kids' section."
"I also came along because I wanted to support Lifeline."
The three-day book fair has raised around $1 million for Lifeline since it began in 2006.
Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show 2361 people committed suicide in 2010 - more than six deaths a day on average - making it the leading cause of death for Australians aged 15-44.