This year's Friends of the C.H. Booth Library Book Sale may be one for the books. According to unofficial tallies, this year's book sale is shaping up to surpass last year's fundraiser for the library.

For some people, opening day of this year's book sale on July 7 meant the time for an annual outing had come again. Before doors opened on Saturday, many people who waited near the front of the line said they had come to the area from out-of-state. A good number of people near the front of the line also said they have been coming to the library book sale for more than 20 years. Some people were with friends, others stood near rivals.

The book sale was held at Reed Intermediate School, July 7 to 11.

"It was astounding," said Friends of the C.H. Booth Library Chair Denise Kaiser on July 10, remembering the opening day.

The items at the book sale were sorted and hefted into place ahead of the opening day and throughout the sale by volunteers. Ms Kaiser said it was one of the largest group of volunteers in the sale's history, and it would not have been possible without them. Ms Kaiser said she is grateful for the town's support, as many of the volunteers were from town.

As in previous years, people planned in advance to go to the popular book sale. Roughly 40 empty boxes and bins were lined up outside Reed the day before the big opening. According to volunteer reports, a line formed before 8 am on July 7, but doors for the first day did not open until 9 am. There were few parking spots left open in front of the school by 8:30 am.

Inside Reed, volunteers set up cones to help book buyers navigate the school's entrance safely and readied signs, noting where different books were set up. Fiction books were in the school's gymnasium and non-fiction was in the school's cafetorium. An art room at the school was re-purposed for the book sale's Rare & Special Books room.

To rally the volunteers, Ms Kaiser had prepared a song to the tune of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame." Just before the doors opened, the song was performed. The lyrics to Ms Kaiser's version of the song were, "Let's all work at the book sale, let's all help out the crowd. Sell them some craft books and his-to-ry, maybe they'd like an old mys-te-ry! And it's root, root, root for the dealers, if they don't come then we'll wail. For it's one, two, three boxes sold, at the Friend's book sale!"

While the song was being sung, people outside were comparing the numbers on their tickets. In the front of the line, people held the first tickets purchased for the book sale. Philip Fidalgo of Waterbury, Malcolm Tent of Sandy Hook, Lois Vano of Redding, Matthew Kaminskis of Brookfield, and Jessica DuPont of Half Moon Books and Bob Lukomski, both of Kingston, N.J., stood with empty boxes and bags in their arms. The group had the very first numbered tickets, and they were all ready for the sale.

Steve Fidemi and Andrea Battel, both of Perth Amboy, N.J., sat in the shade on a bench nearby.

"We've been coming here for at least 20 years or so," Mr Fidemi said. They both smiled together as they waited for the doors to open.

Once the book sale began, people walked quickly to the different areas of the sale. By 9 am on Saturday, 371 tickets were sold, according to book sale Publicity Director Toni Earnshaw.

Many people seemed to swiftly swarm the DVD section. The children's book and board game area also seemed to be popular areas of the book sale. Within seconds of the doors opening, people were bending over the records for sale in another area. Many early attendees knew to head straight to the Rare & Special Books room to find what they were seeking.

Ms Kaiser estimates 1,560 tickets were sold to adults throughout the entire first day of the sale.

Overall, Ms Kaiser said on July 10 the Friends of the C.H. Booth Library's message "Good quality books sell" is clear, as this year's book sale is shaping up to prove that to be true. Totals were still being calculated on July 10, the second to last day of the sale, but Ms Kaiser was still blown away by the volume of book sale visitors this year throughout the sale.