Shaunna Raycraft took over a collection of 350,000 books when a neighbour threatened to burn them after her collector husband passed away.
But now Raycraft and her own husband don't know what to do with all the books and are forced to contemplate burning some books themselves.
Floor to ceiling books
Raycraft said she was amazed when she first set eyes on the massive collection kept by their neighbours on a nearby acreage. "There was a house floor-to-ceiling with books," said Raycraft. "He was the collector; she had tried to get someone to appraise the books but they wouldn't come out to the rural setting."
"She didn't know how to deal with them so she started to burn them," Raycraft explained.
Book lovers
But the Raycrafts are book lovers and couldn't stand the sight of them being destroyed. Some of the books appear to be old and quite rare. "There was a first edition copy of Black Beauty on the top pile and the bottom was all charred off [from being burned] but the top was just immaculate," she said.
So Raycraft and her husband plunged in and took over the collection, bringing a small house onto their property to accommodate all the books. They piled box after box of books into the house.
"We're talking 30 tonnes of books. The weight of the books is pulling the house apart."
Book rescue turns nightmarish for Sask. couple - Arts & Entertainment - CBC News
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