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Berkeley Bookstore Raffles Autographed Special Edition of McCartney's 'The Lyrics'

BERKELEY (KPIX) -- A small Bay Area bookstore company has received a very rare item that they intend to raffle off to help unhoused kids. It's a win/win situation that involves one of the biggest names in music history.

Books Inc. in Berkeley is a popular place for those who love the feel of a small, neighborhood bookstore. Inside, a new book from former Beatle, Paul McCartney, entitled, "The Lyrics" is on the New York Times bestseller list and, at $100, is selling briskly. Even though McCartney is now 79 years old, his music is still appreciated by the young generation, including 11-year-old Mateo Gril.

"It is still respected," he said. "It might not be as popular as it used to be but it is still respected."

However Books Inc. sells current titles, not rare collectibles -- until now.

"The regular edition is amazing but the one we're raffling off is even better," said Elena Eustaquio, Books Inc. events and marketing manager.

The store was selected by the publisher to receive a single special-edition copy of "The Lyrics," signed by Sir Paul himself. Only 175 of them exist and one is currently for sale on eBay with an opening bid of $15,000. No one at Books Inc. has even seen their edition -- number 67. It is staying under lock and key in its original brown shipping box.

"Once we got the news, it was very exciting," said Eustaquio, "and we realized we could do something very good for the community."

The store is holding a raffle -- $15 per ticket -- with all of the proceeds going to a non-profit called Community Education Partnerships. That program offers tutoring and mentoring for homeless kids, from preschool through 12th grade.

So far, the raffle has collected about $5,000, which Beth Miller, CEP's senior director of programs, says could have a huge impact on someone's future.

"We can take that funding and help all of our students who are applying for college, take that for their college applications," she said. "We can help all our students taking AP exams, pay for those. We can fix broken Chromebooks so our kids can keep meeting with their virtual tutors. I mean, there's so much we can do with this."

To promote neighborhood bookstores, Books Inc. is only selling the tickets, in person, at their eight locations in the Bay Area, which happens to be the same territory served by Community Education Partnerships.

"Everybody wins," said Eustaquio. "We get people into our stores, we get people to support a local non-profit, we get kids the help they need. And one lucky person is going to get to have this book, which is, like, I don't even know how excited they're going to be!"

Those who want to enter the raffle have until the end of business on Dec. 14 to purchase tickets. The winner will be drawn and announced on Dec. 15 -- just in time for Christmas.

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