A woman passionate about reading set out on a task several years ago to save 350,000 books.

Shaunna Raycraft took in her neighbour's collection when he died, with plans to donate them to those in need.

"You can't pin it down what books bring to us, opening that book and cozying up in your favourite chair in front of the fire or on the deck on a sunny day," she said.

"You can't define what that is but it's definitely something."

After a major push for volunteers, Raycraft was able to sort through and organize 250,000 books in the last six days.

"We've done it! We've achieved this goal I mean, it's insurmountable. If you talked to me two years ago, I was completely frustrated with what I had undertaken," said Raycraft.

"The support and the help from individuals has been overwhelming, it's been just amazing, I can't tell you how great it is."

There are 25,000 books set to be burned because they started to develop mold but 30,000 more will be recycled at COSMO Industries.

CMangatal@rawlco.com

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