The Friends of C.H. Booth Library will present this year’s Holiday Gift Sale, Saturday and Sunday, December 1-2, in the lower meeting room of the library, 25 Main Street.

Hours will be 9:30 am to 5 pm, Saturday and 11 am to 5 pm, Sunday.

Toni Earnshaw, publicity director for the Friends, says the popular event continues to grow annually. During a sorting session in one of the work rooms at the library this week, Ms Earnshaw was joined by a few others who were surrounded by items being sorted, priced, and stored away for just a few more weeks. Shelves inside closets were neatly filled with boxes and bins of everything from books, prints, and puzzles to gift sets, games, CDs, DVDs, and much more. The donated items are new or gently used.

Among the items on a table Tuesday morning was a set of Vatican coins, decorative measuring spoons, three reproduction Bev Doolittle “Hidden Indian” prints, an ornate necklace with semi-precious stones, a set of boxed earrings, and a large collection of Christmas Village style buildings, each individually priced. Any of the small-scale buildings with electric cords have been checked to make sure their bulbs were in working order, said Marge Gingolaski, a Friends of CHB Library volunteer.

“Most of the buildings have bulbs, and each has been tested,” Ms Gingolaski said. The buildings are priced individually, she said. A small collection of figures created in scale to the buildings will be sold as a set, she added.

The appearance of those small collectibles is just one example of what shoppers will find when the meeting room doors open for the fundraiser in just a few weeks.

Denise Kaiser, chair of Friends of CHB, said the holiday sale is special for a number of reasons.

“Most people think books when they think of this sale, but it’s so much more,” she said Tuesday morning. “We have items from very generous local businesses and residents. We are so blessed in this town.

Ms Earnshaw agreed.

“This sale becomes more popular by the year as patrons find an array of seasonal and nonseasonal gift items,” she said. “This always has an eclectic array. People are so generous.

“This may be a banner year,” she added, looking over a collection of Longaberger baskets, bath sets, and more jewelry.

The donated items are sold at steep discounts from their list prices, all three women pointed out. Ms Gingolaski said prices are much better than wholesale.

Mentioning the uniqueness of each year’s sale, Ms Kaiser said the Holiday Gift Sale is fun for volunteers and shoppers alike because of its changing inventory.

Donations are received year-round, Ms Earnshaw said, with volunteers steadily sorting them among the holiday book sale, the summer book sale, and The Little Book Store on the library’s main floor.

“We have a very good sense of what our neighbors will enjoy year-round,” Ms Kaiser mentioned.

Presented by Friends of the C.H. Booth Library, a 501(c)(3) organization, proceeds from the Holiday Gift Sale will provide financial and material support to the town library.