September 30, 2004
Book sale buyers bonanza
Friends of District Library two-day sale features 5,000 books
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
From biography, decorating and psychology to astrology, gardening and cookbooks, the Friends Annual Used Book Sale was an eclectic reader's dream.
Pop authors from Danielle Steel to Stephen King sat cover to cover with weightier tomes by Winston Churchill and Robert McNamara. Multi-volume sets included "A Modern Herbal," "The Manual of Grasses" and 22 out of 23 volumes of "Women's Day Encyclopedia of Cooking."
In sum: there was something for everyone among the more than 5,000 books at last weekend's event at the Traverse Area District Library.
Margaret Paskins of Empire added to her beloved and burgeoning Newberry medal winning book collection with her purchase of "Rabbit Hill" by Robert Larson.
"It's from 1944," she enthused of the children's book.
"I absolutely love books and I love libraries even more," she added. "It is nice to support the libraries, the librarians are the most helpful people."
Bibliophile Diane Hallman left Saturday's session toting an armful of books - a first time sale attendee who had found a treasure trove. Not a fiction reader, Hallman is always on the lookout for interesting reference books or craft books; she also collects children's books illustrated by Stephen Kellogg.
Running out of room for all the books at home is not a worry.
"We just add more shelving all the time," she said, noting that her husband, Eric, has attended the sale in previous years.
The annual two-day sale raised $9,100 for the Friends of the Traverse Area District Libraries group. This organization earmarks the money for special programs, equipment and services at the TADL libraries.
"This money makes a big difference, especially with the smaller libraries it helps to fund their children's programs," said Mike McGuire, director of the Traverse Area District Library.
The event dates beyond the memories of Friends volunteers who staffed the event, though Tom Levi, a veteran of 18 sales, puts it at 20-25 years. Levi said volunteers spend weeks sorting and pricing books in earnest throughout the late summer. The Woodmere facility's third floor features storage shelves to house the books - which are donated throughout the year - until the annual sale.
"We go through and handle each [sale] book at least four times," he said. "We start pricing in early August and it is pretty intense after that."
McGuire estimated that the Woodmere facility alone receives "hundreds and hundreds" of donated books each week. This year-round deluge keeps him and his staff busy sorting and either storing for the sale or shelving books that enhance the collection. McGuire said the library adds a few thousand donated books to its collection every year. Some of the less desirable books are sold year-round on a 75-cent shelf near the Gift Shop.
A small percentage of the largesse winds up in the trash, something donors cannot bring themselves to do, he said.
"Because people can't throw books away, they bring them here," McGuire said. "If you're in this business, though, you get used to throwing books away."
Sometimes the library receives a rare or valuable volume via donation. When this happens, staff members research the book and occasionally sell it via the Internet.
"We only sell online because we don't think we'll get those prices locally," Levi noted.