Century-old rare maps, private notes between Senators and autographed memoirs of past Prime Ministers are amongst the treasures unearthed at Lifeline Bookfair over the years.

Little wonder that 19,000 people flocked to Lifeline Bookfair at EPIC last weekend (a record number for September) because you never know what precious paperbacks or hardcovers you’ll find.

In fact, 2,000 Canberrans, including second-hand book dealers, were lined up outside before the doors even opened on Friday.

At a previous Lifeline Bookfair, one lucky shopper purchased not one, but two original hand-coloured 1911 lithographs by a certain Charles R Scrivener. These maps depicted the topography of the Canberra region before it became Canberra and were part of the map set that was sent to prospective city designers.

A nice little find for small change.

Another book lover once found a note tucked inside a book, which was from one (un-named) senator to another written on official senate notepaper. The private note dated back to the 1950s.

Last weekend, a local book enthusiast found a signed copy of Paul Keating’s memoir, but it’s not always rare books that make for valuable finds. Last weekend, someone unearthed an old “buddy the bus” badge that proudly states: “I’m an ACTION buddy”.

If you’re lucky, as one bargain-shopper was last year, you could discover a rare, large hard-cover photography book for small change with an online resale value of $800.

Lifeline Canberra CEO, Carrie-Ann Leeson, said Canberra was unique in that it was the only Lifeline Centre (other than Queensland) to hold massive Bookfairs.

“We’ve found diaries from war veterans that we’ve returned to the National Library and War Memorial because those are national treasures,” Ms Leeson said.

“We also get the odd wedding album, so we try and locate the donors for those. There are first-edition Harry Potter books, first edition Superman comics.”

In the 10 years that Ms Leeson has been in the top role at Lifeline Canberra, she’s heard hundreds of stories of incredible finds.

“You only have to sit on the checkout and every person coming through is thrilled,” she said. “A least one in 10 are telling you about the significance of the Bookfair. It could be a book they had as a child that they lost. It could be someone who’s been looking for a lost book in a set for 20 years and finally found it.”

Nothing gets past Lifeline’s volunteers, who scour every single book for signatures and compare prices for rare collector’s items. Even every jigsaw puzzle is assembled to ensure it is complete.

Ms Leeson said Canberra’s Lifeline Bookfair was their biggest fundraiser and their “lifeblood”.

“Canberra’s Lifeline Bookfair is the biggest, I’m so proud to say. Thanks to Canberra, it’s a much smaller state but it hits its punches above its weight,” said Ms Leeson.