Another Record Year For

 The Booth Library Book Sale

By Jan Howard

It was a blowout year for the C.H. Booth annual Labor Day Book Sale, breaking all previous records with a total of over $90,000 raised as of Monday night.

It was a waiting game Saturday, September 1, as early ticket holders awaited the opening of the doors of Bridgeport Hall on the former Fairfield Hills campus at 9 am. Many had been there for hours. Some book dealers had arrived as early as Thursday afternoon, hoping to be among those lucky enough to be first in line.

Hundreds of book dealers, collectors, and book lovers filled the grounds, chatting with each other or standing patiently in line, holding plastic crates, boxes, handcarts, and bags that would later be filled with books. Other early birds found some comfort in a hot cup of coffee and a snack from the food tent.

Once inside, they headed for tables of their respective interests, manned by volunteers wearing shirts that read “Beware the man with one book.”

Sales were brisk as book dealers and others piled books and other materials along the walls under blankets or sheets, or filled their bags and boxes prior to cashing out.

“We again have a record-breaker,” coordinator Joanne Zang said on Tuesday. “We are up ten percent from last year.” Last year’s sale raised over $80,000 for the library.

The sale had a “banner first day,” breaking another record with $54,000 in books and other materials sold, according to Mrs Zang, who has been coordinator of the sale for all of its 26 years. Last year’s sale netted $47,000 on the first day.

  “We rented out $90,000 of books this year,” Mrs Zang said, noting many books that were sold this year will find their way back to the library for next year’s book sale.

The rare books did very well this year, she said. “We almost sold out. There is very little left in there. On the first day, we did over $5,000 in rare books alone. We’re getting smarter about picking out books that are valuable.”

The food booth also raised more funds than last year, Mrs Zang said.

Combined with $900 raised in the children’s book sale and the $1,000 a month raised by the library’s Book Nook, the library will raise in excess of $100,000 this year, Mrs Zang noted.

“This year’s crowd from beginning to end was a nice, well-behaved crowd,” she said. Book dealers, who historically come early on the first day, were less disruptive to the books, she noted. “We did not have a lot of abandoned big piles of books to resort and put back.

“We had a lot of large buys this year from dealers,” she said. Art books and materials usually disappear first, she noted. “It happens almost immediately.”

One of the book dealers purchased 3,000 paperbacks the first day, Mrs Zang said. Another customer spent $1,700, with the majority of the purchase in children’s books.

The book sale does so well because it has a good reputation for organizing the books, having good prices, and helping customers box and load their purchases, Mrs Zang said. The customers are always very appreciative, she noted, because many book sales don’t help them.

Mrs Zang said the customers traveling the most miles for the book sale were a couple from Boise, Idaho, who were in Chicago for a philatelic stamp show when they saw an ad for the book sale on the Internet. “They flew here, and bought all their books,” she said. “We will be shipping them out to them in Idaho.”

The success of the book sale is the result of the hundreds of hours put in by library volunteers, Mrs Zang said. “I also want to thank Newtown for donating books. Reading is not dead in Newtown.”

Big sellers this year were the classics, art, photography, history, children’s books, and paperbacks, according to Mrs Zang.

“We appreciate all the extra effort that goes into separating paperbacks,” she said. Because the books are alphabetized and categorized, it’s easy for customers to find books they want. “We’re user friendly,” Mrs Zang said.

“We did very well, but we keep refining it,” she said. For instance, books about Native Americans were categorized for the first time this year, making it easier for customers to find them.

“One section we didn’t think would sell well was high school and college yearbooks,” Mrs Zang said. “We sold 20 out of 25. That surprised us.”

The library sale offered one of the largest record collections this year, and they sold well, she said.

Mrs Zang said the book sale volunteers are hoping to have the use of Bridgeport Hall again next year. “Hopefully it’ll be available to us.”

The book sale started out with over 160,000 books and related items. Tables were overflowing with hardcover and paperback books waiting for the thousands of buyers who would attend the sale that ended Wednesday.

 “Everybody’s tired, but happy,” Mrs Zang said of the approximately 100 volunteers who helped out with the book sale.

But there is no time to rest on their laurels. The sale had not even begun last week when books began piling up downstairs in the library, ready for sorting and pricing for next year’s sale.

Almost year round, about 15 people gather twice a week in the library to prepare the thousands of books and other materials donated for the sale.

Books for next year’s sale should be left on the carts in the main entrance lobby near the children’s department. Pickup can be arranged for large numbers of books.