IT’S YOUR BOOK SALE
It’s Your Book Sale
By Michael Haran
2/21/2013
Published Healdsburg Tribune 2/28/2013
Three times a year an amazing event happens. Hundreds of used books go on sales to support the Healdsburg Library. The books for the sale are collected from people in town and around the community. They are divvied up into sections on every imaginable topic: politics, writing, cooking, crafts, women, health, technology, science, sports, children, teens, modern fiction, classic fiction, science fiction, mysteries, phycology, self-help, travel, history, specials, education, and on and on. The sale also has CDs and DVDs and old VHS tapes containing legacy subjects. In short, the book sale has something for everyone.
The book sale will run Wednesday, March 20th, from 1 to 6 PM, members only, no scanners 1-3; Thursday, March 21st and Friday, March 22nd, from 11 AM to 6 PM, open to the public, and Saturday, March 23rd, from 10 AM to 4 PM, with a bag sale from noon to 4 PM, and a free bag to teachers.
The book sale is put on by the “Friends of the Healdsburg Library.” They are a volunteer group whose sole mission in life is to raise much need money for the library to provide community services which have been cut (or are in danger of being cut) because of the draconian budget cuts ravaging city and county services. And although the economy Improves, government services and jobs are still being cut.
For four months book that are donated to the sale are sorted by subject and boxed up. Diane Lubich is the day-in, day-out Friends volunteer who does the lion’s share of the sorting. The boxes are then taken to Empire Storage (good people) who donates a locker for the storage of the books. On the Tuesday before the sale Charlene Luks goes into action. She coordinates the set up in the library’s forum room. It take approximately twenty FOHL volunteers to set-up and take-down the book sale.
First the tables are pulled from the library’s storage closet and set-up in rows. Next the wooded boxes that will hold the books are placed on the he tables. While this is going on a group of male volunteers go get the several hundred boxes of books from Empire Storage in their pickup trucks. Phil Luks, Charlene’s husband, coordinates this move. Because this has to be done so quickly several day-labors are hired and several boy scouts pitch in.
Once the books are inside the library about ten or twelve people start putting them in their assigned sections. The signage is put up in the room and the book sale is ready to go.
On Wednesday the “Friends” members get first look at the books. Many members are avid readers which is why they joined the library’s support group in the first
place. Most books are priced at $2.00 each with “special” books price a little higher. On Saturday, the last day of the sale you can buy a whole grocery bag full of books
for $5.00 and if you are a teacher you can get a whole bag of books for free. Many people buy books to read and then donate them back to the book sale.
The books that don’t sell are boxed back up and first offered to the book mobile and then they are donated to Hospice.
Even with the advent of the eBook nothing beats curling up with a good book made of paper. Hope to see you there. Bo Simons, Healdsburg Regional Library manager says, “The book sales are the main fund raiser for the library. The volunteers do such a great job I can see why
the event is so popular. We can always use more books so if you want to do a little recycling of your home library now’s the time to do it.”
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