Victoria’s Russell Books wants your help to build world’s largest stack of Guinness World Record books

One of downtown Victoria’s most prominent and popular bookstores is reaching for the skies in a bid to kick off their move to a new location.

Earlier this year, we announced that Fort Street staple Russell Books is moving to a bigger location right across the street.

See also: Russell Books is moving to a bigger location in downtown Victoria

To celebrate this transition, the owners are trying to build the tallest stack of Guinness World Record books in an effort to set a new world record.

But they need your help to achieve this enormous feat.

While management at Russell Books has a hefty stack of books on hand to get started, they’re asking Victorians to contribute their Guinness World Record books in exchange for a $5 gift card and a chance to help them make history.

The store will be completing the move to their new 747 Fort Street location this October and hopes to have enough copies to set a new world record by then.

Bring your contribution over to the main floor front desk at Russell Books’ current storefront at 734 Fort Street to participate.

Russell Books expansion

Back in June, Russell Books announced that they will be combining all of their inventory and moving into the old Staples building right across the street at 747 Fort Street.

This transition is a massive expansion for the business, as the new store is 18,000 sq. ft. – that’s 6,000 sq. ft more space than their current location.

The building comes equipped with an elevator, an escalator, a loading bay in the back for when shipments come in, and a single storefront entrance rather than the three that Russell Books currently has.

See also: Downtown Victoria book store announces major sale for its last day on August 15th

“We don’t want to have closure so we’re going to do our best to get it as organized as possible,” owner Andrea Minter told Victoria Buzz. “It might mean that some sections might not be open but we’re going to do our best to have as little disruption as possible.”

Once they’ve moved into the larger space, Minter says customers can also look forward to a larger inventory and bigger sections.

Russell Books first opened in downtown Victoria in 1991 when founder Reg Russell expanded his Montreal operation and brought it to the city.

Today, it is the single largest independent bookstore operator in downtown Victoria and offers a massive variety of literature, covering every inch of the store from floor to ceiling.