Blockbuster Booth Book Sale Raises Over $80,000

By Jan Howard

It was a blockbuster of a year for the C.H. Booth Library’s annual Labor Day Book Sale, which raised a record amount – over $80,000 – to benefit the library.

“We had quite a crowd the first, second, and third day,” coordinator Joanne Zang said. “Each day was a blockbuster. We had record sales every day. It was an extraordinary sale.”

On opening day, a record-breaking $47,000 was raised, compared to $35,000 last year.

Last year’s book sale raised about $64,000, Mrs Zang said. “We completely skipped the 70s and went right to the 80s.”

Combined with the $9,000 raised by the library’s Book Nook this year and $1,000 from the children’s book sale in June, well over $90,000 has been raised for the library, she said.

The rare book room raised $3,700, Mrs Zang noted. “By Sunday, it was sparse. We had a good selection of rare books. Those that are left we will try to sell on the Internet.

Mrs Zang said the book sale volunteers purposely leave a few bargains around for the dealers to find, admitting, “Sometimes we don’t know they are treasures.”

Mrs Zang said the success of the book sale each year is “due to these extraordinary volunteers who’ve put in so many hours for so many years. It’s the high quality sorting we do all year.”

“We have so many floor workers that are knowledgeable about books,” she added. “They help people who ask about a particular book to find it.”

Mrs Zang said about 18 volunteers work year round preparing for the sale, with about 100 helping out during the book sale itself, serving as cashiers or straightening books on the tables.

Volunteer JeanMarie Walz, who recently moved to Pennsylvania, came back specifically to work at the book sale, Mrs Zang said.

The sale started out with 18,000 paperbacks, and just a few hundred remained on the last day of the sale, according to Mrs Zang. Children’s books were sold out. Art, architecture, and antiques books were almost gone by 9:15 the first day, she said.

Because the books are alphabetized and categorized, it makes it easy for people to find a particular author, Mrs Zang noted. “We’re user friendly,” she said.

Mrs Zang said volunteer Lynn Bassett “knows every book and author there is. People will come up with esoteric books, and she’ll find them for them. She’s invaluable. Kids were coming in with their high school reading list, and she was able to find the books for them.”

The crowds at the annual sale get larger each year, Mrs Zang said. “These were the most orderly, quiet book buyers I’ve seen. There was a nice steady stream of people.”

She said none of the book dealers or collectors complained about the hike in the admission price to $10 this year.

  On Saturday, Mrs Zang said it was so hot and humid in Bridgeport Hall, “By 4 pm the floor was wet, and it was like a skating rink in there. I was so afraid someone would get hurt, but everything went well.”

She said she hopes the book sale will continue to have the use of the building next year. “People love the book sale, and the building is perfect for it, even though it seems like we’ve outgrown it.”

Mrs Zang said before the sale opened on the second day, she was sweeping the front steps and began chatting with a family in the front of the line. Unbelievably, she said, “They saw our ad on the Web and drove 13 hours from Kentucky!”

She said one man, who came in on half price day, said he only had $1,600 in cash to buy books. “He came with a truck, and he spent his $1,600,” she said.

It was a waiting game Saturday, September 2, as early ticket holders waited for the doors of Bridgeport Hall to open at 9 am. Many had been there for hours.

Hundreds of book dealers, collectors, and book lovers filled the grounds. Some sat on plastic crates that would later be full of books while other early birds found comfort in a hot cup of coffee and a snack from the food tent. Others stood close to the steps of Bridgeport Hall, eager to be inside. One woman leaned against a tree, a large black dog by her side.

Almost everyone had large paper bags, tote bags, boxes, or crates in their arms or at their feet. Some carried small handcarts or dollies.

Many of those early arrivals had been to the book sale many times; for others it was their first time. They came from Long Island, Westport, Hartford, New York City, Pennsylvania, Cape Cod, and many other places, as well as Newtown and the local area.

Mike Loparo of Westport held ticket number 98. He and his wife, Julie, were in line early, sitting on crates on the sidewalk, talking with Carl Staracci of Long Island, who was another early arrival.

Andrew Marley and Valerie Sharp of Harwichport on the Cape, who were lying on the grass under a nearby tree, held tickets numbered 129 and 130. They heard about the book sale on the Internet.

Taking advantage of the crowds that would pass through Bridgeport Hall during the book sale, Lions Club members showed off the vintage red Mustang convertible they are raffling off.

Inside Bridgeport Hall, 150,000 books and related items awaited. The hard-working library volunteers were ready, following a pre-opening meeting led by Mrs Zang, who has coordinated the book sale for all of its 25 years.

The sale follows months of preparation. For two hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the volunteers can be found on the first floor of the library, sorting books donated for the next sale. The major part of the work, however, takes place just weeks before the sale, when books are boxed and delivered to Bridgeport Hall and organized according to category on numerous tables. During this pre-sale period, library volunteers work days and evenings to get ready for opening day.

On Saturday, September 2, the volunteers began to see the fruits of their labors. By 9 am over 400 tickets were sold, more than last year. When the doors opened, the first ticket holders entered Bridgeport Hall, each heading for books of their special interest. Some broke into a run, with volunteers quickly admonishing them to walk.

There were 70 categories of books, something of interest for everyone. Before long, as more ticket holders entered the building, both large rooms of the former Fairfield Hills Hospital cafeteria building were packed with book dealers and book lovers busily scanning book titles.

The rare book room was packed almost immediately with dealers and collectors.

In one of the large rooms, a dealer from Hartford quickly filled two huge bags with videotapes. Another had three boxes full of books in just minutes, covered with a cloth, against a wall. Others walked along the tables, filling boxes and bags with books.

Throughout both large rooms, books overflowed from boxes under the tables, for lack of room. As books disappeared from the tables, some of these books would replace them.

In the children’s book area, youngsters examined the many books and games offered while their parents checked out the adult offerings nearby.

Outside, some book buyers took a break at the snack tent, where library employees and volunteers sold donated baked goods, hotdogs and hamburgers, desserts, and other goodies.

“Marie Walker works hard to get the donations,” Mrs Zang said of the food booth, which raised $3,000.

On Saturday, a man went to the food booth to request a paper towel to wipe his face, which was literally dripping from the humidity and warmth in the building. Tempted by a volunteer’s listing of cold drinks, he opted for an ice tea along with the towel, and returned, somewhat rejuvenated, to the book sale.

Books left over from this year’s sale are donated to charitable organizations, Mrs Zang said, and Goodwill takes all the leftover fiction.

“We don’t save anything,” she said. “Every year is a brand new adventure.”

Mrs Zang said the book sale volunteers would be working with the high school this year as a source of books. “Kids like paperbacks, and we’ll supply them. We get so many they like, such as Stephen King books.”

Books for next year’s sale are already being donated to the library. After a short break, volunteers will begin again sorting and pricing books, many of which will have been purchased at this year’s Labor Day Book Sale.

As one volunteer said during the book sale, “We don’t sell books here, we rent them.”

Books should be left on the carts in the main entrance lobby near the children’s department. Pick-up can be arranged for large numbers of books.