I’m a regular at the bi-annual Friends of the Library Book
Sale…I usually go more than once during the week-long event, as the books that
fill an entire warehouse of tables are constantly changing (volunteers actually
continue to unload eighteen wheelers of books as the week progresses). I always make it a point, too, to visit bag
day, which I think is safe to say is everyone’s
favorite day of the sale. For a buck
(or five, if you’re in the better books section, which I usually am), you can
grab up an entire paper grocery bag of reads.
I can’t tell you how many authors I’ve discovered at these
sales. And I’m not the only one. On bag day, the line starts forming at least
an hour before the doors open. And when
shoppers are finally let inside? It’s a
bit like Black Friday, actually.
This year, I was in the throngs when the doors opened on bag
day, and the children’s books had disappeared completely by the time I actually
got inside. As had the vast majority of
the antique volumes. I’m not
exaggerating—just in the time it took me to walk inside, those sections were all
but cleaned out. And while this sale
does present an opportunity to grab up some books that might have some value,
most people really do honestly appear to be after new reads. Most are stocking up on their entertainment
of choice—a good thick book.
I wasn’t surprised to learn that this spring’s book sale had
clobbered their previous record, bringing in more than $121,000.
I can’t tell you how much I love knowing that so many people
love their books as much as I do. Reading is in no way
dead—is in no way even in jeopardy, judging by this year’s FOL Book Sale.
Kudos, fellow Springfieldians—kudos!
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