Deadline Approaching For Donating Books

To The Booth Library Book Sale

By Jan Howard

It’s almost time for the C.H. Booth Library’s annual book sale, and volunteers are hard at work preparing for it, putting books in categories and boxing them up for the trip over to Bridgeport Hall on the Fairfield Hills campus. Opening day of the sale is September 4 at 9 am.

More than 160,000 books in 76 categories will be featured in the book sale this year. The last day to donate books for this year’s sale is August 14. No magazines or encyclopedias are accepted for the sale.

The number of books that are available for book sale attendees to choose from each year is always outstanding, making this one of the largest book sales in the Northeast. The sale starts on September 4 and continues through Wednesday, September 8, from 9 am to 5 pm.

Where do all these books come from? According to Pete Stern, a longtime book sale volunteer, they come from people who are moving, doing spring cleaning, or downsizing. They may come in a few at a time or by the boxfuls, as happened recently.

“Most come from people clearing up a little here, a little there,” Mr Stern said.

Books also come in from estates or large collections, he said. An editor at Grolier donated almost his entire library to the book sale, according to Mr Stern. Another large collection was received last year from a resident who was moving.

Local residents donate most of the books, he said. Many may have been purchased at the book sale the previous year and are being recycled back into the system.

“We just got a lot of books that were purchased at the Book Nook [in the library],” Mr Stern said. “People are just returning the books they may have purchased last year.”

In regard to estate sales, “What doesn’t sell comes to the library,” Mr Stern said. “It doesn’t mean they’re not worth anything. Most are books you would read.”

Mr Stern said valuable rare books are a small part of the proceeds from the book sale. “A good part of the money raised is not from valuable books,” he said. “But every once in a while we get one.”

He said in some ways the book sale is a way station between sales. “We are wholesalers,” he said. “Book dealers come to get books they can resell.”

The book sale, he noted, “is a good place to get a bargain.”

Recently, a woman came into the library with 15 boxes of books, and told volunteers she would probably have 25 boxes to donate before she was finished.

The Newtown resident told the workers she obtained the books from her mother’s house, where they were stacked two rows thick in the bookcase. That was just the beginning, she noted, because she found books in other rooms as well. Her mother had not been able to part with them. She said her mother didn’t collect knick-knacks, she collected books.

Past generations often didn’t throw anything away because they might need it again or because of nostalgic value. While a more throw-away attitude seems to exist among people today, books should not be contributed to the trash pile, according to Joyce Goldin, a member of the Friends of the Library.

Residents should contribute books they have already read to the library’s book sale, so someone else will be able to enjoy them, she said. Once those book shelves are cleaned out, “You will have more space to start collecting again,” she said.

“The dedicated book sale volunteers will accept your book donations gratefully,” Ms Goldin said. She noted that volunteers would also pick up books if a contributor cannot bring them in to the library, especially in cases of large quantities.

It’s easy to donate to the book sale because books are accepted year-round by the library’s corps of volunteers, who work twice a week, every week, to sort, price, and box by categories the thousands of books that are donated each year.

The book sale is still in need of strong volunteers to help out on the evenings of August 9 and August 23 at 7 pm for moving tables at Bridgeport Hall on the Fairfield Hills campus. Workers are also needed during the book sale. To volunteer, call Chairman Joanne Zang at 426-5413.

Friends of the C.H. Booth Library numbered admission tickets for Saturday, September 4, will be on sale Friday, September 3, from noon to 9 pm, and Saturday, September 4, at 8 am at Bridgeport Hall.

Admission for adults on Saturday only is $10 from 9 am to noon and $5 from noon to 5 pm. Books will be sold at half price on Monday, September 6, and for $5 a bag on Tuesday, September 7. On Wednesday, September 8, the final day, books will be free.

In addition to books, records, tapes, CDs, and games will be offered. Refreshments are available during the sale.

All proceeds benefit the library. For more information, call the Booth Library at 426-4533 or visit the website at www.biblio.org/chbooth/booksale.htm.