Annual Book Sale Opens The Doors Of Learning

By Eliza Hallabeck

As a line of book lovers waited outside the main entrance to Reed Intermediate School moments before the opening of this year’s Annual Friends of Booth Library Book Sale on Saturday, July 14, a black graduation robe was donned and Pomp & Circumstance was hummed as volunteers gathered.

It is another annual event; the moment when Friends of Booth Library Book Sale volunteers gather before the doors are opened and bibliophiles and collectors venture in.

Friends of the C.H. Booth Library’s Denise Kaiser hummed, garbed in her academic guise, as she pulled a rolled up paper from her supply bag.

While Ms Kaiser told the group there are too many “faculty” members of the Friends of Booth Library to name, she acknowledged some of the group’s “department chairs” before recognizing a new “faculty member,” Adam Kocurek, who designed the logo for this year’s T-shirt worn by the volunteers and sold for $15 along with past book sale T-shirts as part of the sale.

With a nod to one special item available for purchase at this year’s book sale, Ms Kaiser joked the Friends of Booth Library’s university is looking to institute an archery program, to be overseen by Katniss Everdeen, the main character in Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games.

“We have a motto, of course,” said Ms Kaiser, near the end of her speech. “Our motto is, may the odds be ever in our favor.”

A first edition copy of The Hunger Games was donated to the library for the sale, with an inscription from Ms Collins reading, “May the odds be EVER in your favor!” While The Hunger Games ended up not selling during the book sale, Friends of Booth Library announced the group is planning to offer the book on eBay for interested buyers.

Just before the doors were opened to begin the first day of the sale, Ms Kaiser finished her announcement with, “Thanks for coming to this commencement. The food tent is right behind you, and welcome. Enjoy your time today.”

As volunteers readied — grabbing last minute breakfast options or staking out their place at the sale — the line outside seemed to condense, and seconds after the doors were opened people started piling in, some with empty bags and boxes at the ready.

Within three minutes of the start of the morning, some of the fastest book fans already had filled boxes with books to purchase.

This year marked the 37th year of the annual book sale. Books, CDs, LPs, DVDs, and more were organized on 238 tables between four areas of the school for eventgoers.

In this year’s Special Collections room, Steven Kellogg, Tomie dePaola, Rudyard Kipling, Molly and Norman Rockwell, Rosemary Wells, and Eric Sloane were some of the more familiar names embellishing the front pages of books as the first book salegoers made their way into the room, seconds after the doors opened.

The book sale was open daily from Saturday, July 14, to Wednesday, July 18. Sales from the event benefit the C.H. Booth Library.