Book Sale A Page-Turner From Cover To Cover

By Kendra Bobowick

She could only guess at the number.

“One hundred twenty thousand? One hundred fifty thousand? Maybe more,” said Mary Maki, Friends of the C.H. Booth Library president. The number of books bowed the table tops and squeezed the available space in the Reed Intermediate School gymnasium and cafeteria into narrow isles. Once the tally reached above 120,000 Ms Maki lost count.

Some scented by years on the same sunny shelf in an attic or the newer stamp of fresh ink on pages quickly turned and finished, the used books donated for the annual fundraiser and sale supporting the C.H. Booth library brought in more than $100,000 — at least half of that coming in on the first day. From July 12 when shoppers left with bags or arms wrapped around their purchases, and through the sale’s last day on July 16 when books were free and left the school stacked on hand trucks, Ms Maki stood to the side making room for the bustle.

“It was phenomenal,” she said, “If you could find a better word for it — use it.”

The economy is tough, gas prices are intimidating, and budgets are tight, she noted, but the sale drew people out with dollars in hand. “We were worried about the economy and about people coming out, but boy, were we wrong. People still believe in books and in reading and in what the library is about,” Ms Maki said.

Brushing shoulders and often reaching around one another, the shoppers browsed prologues or glanced at first chapters, and peeked beneath dust jacket as they stood reading an inside cover. With her hair falling against the books balanced in a row, Maya Koneval smiled and admitted that she likes to read as she flipped her fingers through the titles. A row away were brother and sister Ari and Ava Schwartz, who also thumbed through books looking for a summer read.

Comments from the crowd included, “What a great experience.” Ms Maki said, “We heard it over and over and loved the comments.” Day and night the people read the spines and flipped to the opening pages. Would they like this novel? Is the do-it-yourself guide just what dad needs? Are those collectors editions about WWII battles something for the military history shelf?

The bustle caught National Public Radio’s attention (local on FM 90.5 or 91.1). Saturday morning found a photographer and reporter at the school. “Stand back,” Ms Maki had warned a photographer who was crouched down near the doors soon opening to a crush of shoppers. Will Newtown make the NPR weekend edition on Saturday and Sunday? Look at the website, www.npr.org. Check the programs menu.

With the overspill of novels, recipes, photo albums, encyclopedias, and children’s adventures folded between the covers, books barely rested on the tabletops before crowds herded their favorite topics to the checkout.

The funds will go toward library purchases including electronics, books on tape, audio and video collections, and technology. “It sounds like a lot of money,” said Ms Maki, “but the dollars don’t go as far as people might think.”