|
|
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
The book sale is coming! The book sale is coming!
Giant Used Book Sale! That familiar flyer can be seen around town again, advertising the Friends of the Library book sale. The Friends hold a sale twice a year; the spring sale benefits the school libraries and the fall sale benefits us here at Whistler Public Library.
Book sales are the mainstay of Friends of the Library groups across North America. Traditionally formed with the purpose of raising funds to augment the strained budgets of public libraries, Friends are made up of indefatigable volunteers who have a passion for book and libraries. I know that WPL has benefited tremendously from the hard work of our Friends. Last year, they purchased the fantastic coffee machine that graces our Fireplace Lounge; this year they are funding additional furniture to deal with the higher-than-expected traffic in the “new” library.
If you’ve never organized a book sale, you have no idea how much back-breaking labour goes into it. First, there are the weeks of collecting used books from drop sites around town. All the donations have to be transported to a central location (in this case, the home of über-Friend Jane Reid), and then the process of sorting begins. Thousands of books are divided into basic categories like Gardening and Fiction, Children’s and Reference. Next they are repacked into boxes and transported to the sale site (in this case, the IGA) along with tables, signage, and enough bodies to set things up and staff the sale for 7 hours. Even then it’s not over; the remaining books have to be packed up and moved AGAIN, either to storage for the next book sale, donation to another charity, or (if they are in bad shape) the recycling bin.
I worked my first book sale in the early 1990s when I was a young pup, and it was exhausting even then. It’s ironic that the people who tend to put on book sales are on the mature side – though even mature Whistlerites tend toward the athletic rather than the couch potato type. Please consider helping with the book sale, whether as a customer (donator) or as a volunteer. We can use all the help we can get, and you can become a Friend of the Library at the same time! The sale will be this Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm in front of Marketplace IGA. I hope to escape without too many more books for my personal collection!
Lauren Stara, Library Director