Many people associate Old Barn Books in Metchosin with the weekly farmerB次元官网网址檚 market that graces the municipal grounds every Sunday between May and October.

While the two work well together and no doubt attract patrons for each other, the bookstore continues Sundays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. throughout the year as a fundraiser for the Metchosin Museum SocietyB次元官网网址檚 exhibits.

Longtime Metchosin resident and current society president, Larry Tremblay, faithfully opens up the bookstore B次元官网网址� itB次元官网网址檚 located on one end of the society-run Pioneer Museum B次元官网网址� where readers stop in weekly to pick out everything from relatively new releases to well-worn classic novels.

And at $1 for paperbacks and $2 for hardcovers, itB次元官网网址檚 not difficult to find a bargain here.

One might think it would be hard to raise much cash with such reasonable prices, but as Tremblay notes, B次元官网网址淲e usually raise between $6,000 and $7,000 a year toward materials.B次元官网网址�

While the Pioneer Museum is only open now for arranged visits, the bookstore remains open. Key to the fundraising is the fact all the books are donated by community members. Most bring a bagful in every so often, but thereB次元官网网址檚 also a bin available outside for book donations when the bookstore is closed. Also, society members will do home pickups if required, Tremblay says.

One such situation saw volunteers connect with a person whose mother, a Fairfield resident in Victoria, had passed away.

B次元官网网址淪he left us 3,000 books as part of her estate,B次元官网网址� Tremblay says. B次元官网网址淭he books were lining the walls around her home.B次元官网网址�

While the volumes in the bookstore are for the most part not historical in nature, the museum does have some ancient texts in its possession, he says.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e got a 1600s-era bible and a lot of 1800s books,B次元官网网址� he says, adding that the goal is to build a display case for those sometime this winter.

Another project the society is working on is the recreation of a 1850s-era bathroom in the Pioneer Museum. Many donated artifact toiletries from the pioneer Field family farm are already on display, but the goal is to exhibit them in a room patterned after the original, Tremblay says.

As well as the Pioneer Museum in the former barn, the society operates the Metchosin School Museum in the 1872 building just up and across Happy Valley Road from the fire hall. For more information, visit .

To arrange for the pickup of books or to make a financial contribution to the society, call 250-478-8543. B次元官网网址淲e rely on donations to keep us going,B次元官网网址� Tremblay says.