A Victoria book store will soon attempt to set a world record and is still collecting books for the attempt until Thursday.
Russell Books will be moving from its 734 Fort St. location to across the street at a larger 747 Fort St. location. As part of the store’s soft opening on Nov. 14, an attempt to build the tallest stack of Guinness World Record books is going to be made.
“We’re in the process of getting shelves and the remaining books in [the store] all while staying open and we thought we’d add one more thing on our plate to attempt a world record,” said store owner Andrea Minter.
The store is aiming for a stack of books that surpasses 4.5 metres, or 15 feet. Minter and her husband, Jordan, have made several attempts at stacking the books already and have a few designs in mind. They will be working with people from Guinness World Records to ensure it looks good and is still structurally sound.
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The Minters have four young children and books have been part of Andrea’s entire life since the store was started by her grandfather in 1961.
“I remember as a little kid…reading the Guinness World Record Book,” Minter said. “And of course my kids have a real passion for reading as well and picking up the Guinness World Record Books too and of course you start to dream when you read that book.”
Over the last couple of years Minter said they were increasingly inspired to set a world record using Guinness World Record books. She finally submitted an application this year and heard back within 24 hours.
“They seem very willing to work with us and they’re very excited,” Minter said.
So far, they’ve collected over 500 Guinness World Record books and are still accepting donations from the community in exchange for $5 store credit. Minter said support from the community has been great, with many people stopping in to drop off books for the world record attempt.
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“I feel it’s an attempt of Russell Books and the community as well,” Minter said.
The adjudicator will be travelling to Victoria from New York and will be there on Thursday to make sure all of the rules are followed.
Russell Books will be opening the doors to its new location on Thursday at 4 p.m. so customers can get a sneak peak of what the store will look like when its finally complete. The world record attempt will be around 4:30 p.m.
The store hopes to donate some of the books after the attempt and pass them along to different schools as well.
shalu.mehta@goldstreamgazette.com
