A yearly book sale and hundreds of donated dictionaries are keeping a pair of local Rotary clubs busy this month.

The "Big Book Sale" hosted by the Rotary Club of White Rock is set to run for a week at Semiahmoo Shopping Centre, from March 3 to 10.

Volunteer-staffed tables will be filled with a wide variety of donated books at the annual sale, which has raised close to $1 million during its 31 years.

"This money has assisted local organizations in providing services to the old, the young and the challenged," Ramona Kaptyn, the club's communications rep, told the Now.

Books donated for the sale can be dropped off at the shopping centre, in a bin near the Cobs Bread store. For more details, visit www. whiterockrotary.org.

"Often rare old editions are amongst the donations," Kaptyn noted. "They are treated with great respect and heartfelt thanks, as they fetch good prices. Most of the other books are very reasonably priced, generally selling at three for $5."

In North Delta, Rotarians have been busy distributing more than 800 dictionaries to every Grade 3 student in the area, at 14 elementary schools.

Project organizer Lornell Ridley said it's an amazing experience to stand at the front of a classroom and hand out a Rotary dictionary to every child.

"For some students, it is their first personal book," Ridley stated. "This is our club's commitment to the children of North Delta. Without exception, the principals, teachers and students are delighted to receive their gift of a dictionary - it is theirs to keep."

Rotary's international Dictionary Project, founded in 1995, has delivered more than six million dictionaries to kids around the world.

Twitter @tomzillich

tzillich@ thenownewspaper.com