August 13, 2003

Vintage book sale covers the reading gamut

Interlochen Public Library event to feature book collection dating from 1850 to 1960s

By Carol South
Herald contributing writer

      From children's book to cookbooks, reference to religion, the Vintage Book Sale at the Interlochen Public Library has something for everyone.
      Scheduled for this Friday and Saturday at the library, the sale features more than 1,000 books dating from the 1850s through the 1960s. Many of the books are from the collection of Charlotte Stander, an area resident since 1980 who died in May. Her collection spans the spectrum of interests that she and her husband, Aaron, also deceased, shared: travel, literature, history, art, biography and fiction.
      The sale will also include cookbooks from the 1950s and 60s, numerous children's books dating to the earlier part of the 1900s and multi-volume sets on topics such as history and literature.
      "There's a lot of fiction books I remember reading from my parents' bookshelf," said Jane Hardwicke of Interlochen as she helped price books Monday afternoon. "There's all kinds of memories here."
      Shirley Murray, a member of the Interlochen Public Library Friends, helped research and price books for the sale. While the Friends usually hold a fundraising book sales two or three times a year, Murray said a Vintage Book Sale is a first for the group.
      "This is a new sale for us and I don't know whether we'll do it again or not, but we're having a lot of fun with it," she said. "The books came in just a week before the last book sale, a huge book sale we have every spring with thousands of books."
      The Friends volunteers took their responsibility to the Stander collection seriously and have carefully researched the books. Murray looked up each book on vintage book sites such as ABE.com and bookfinder.com to determine its value before establishing a price. She also checked the books against the inventory of the Traverse Area District Library system to see what books might be added to that collection.
      In addition to carefully handling the aging books, the volunteers have also covered book covers that were tearing or worn with clear Mylar plastic to help preserve them.
      "This donation was very generous of her, and of her children, too," Murray noted. "Aaron, her son, said she would get such a kick out of this."
      Murray said that Charlotte Stander was a regular at the library's monthly book discussion group for years, always providing lively and well-researched comments and reflections. Stander loved books and always prepared pages of notes on the book being discussed, down to page numbers relating to her thoughts.
      "When she gave a book review she would bring a costume in to put on," Murray recalled. "I remember one time she was doing a book report on the Middle East and she came in wearing that costume, the whole thing, including the burka."
      The Vintage Book Sale will be held at the Interlochen Public Library on Friday and Saturday, August 15-16, from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. both days. The library is located at 9700 Riley Road. For more information, call 276-6767.