Collections Slow For Annual Sale-Special Book Donation Day Planned At Library

By NANCY CREVIER

Published: Oct 17, 2008 12:00 am

Collections Slow For Annual Saleâ

Special Book Donation Day Planned At Library

By Nancy K. Crevier

Friends of the C.H. Booth Library have decided to make it easy for residents to donate to the Annual Book Sale. On Sunday, October 26, the group will hold Fall Book Donation Day, from noon to 5 pm, at the library. The special day is to encourage people to give their unwanted books, CDs, DVDs, and videos to the library to support the Friendâs biggest annual fundraiser.

Book donations to the Friends of the C.H. Booth Library book sale are slow this year, said Toni Earnshaw, a volunteer with the organization. âWeâre wondering whatâs going on. Is it the housing market affecting donations? If homes arenât selling, maybe people arenât as apt to be cleaning out,â she said.

Â âIt used to be that when you walked into the book sorting room on Monday morning you would barely be able to walk through, there were so many books collected. Now, thereâs often barely enough to fill one table,â said another Friendsâ volunteer, Pat Marshall. âI have a feeling that people are hanging on to what they have due to the uncertainty about the economy, no matter what it is or if they even still want it anymore,â she added, and that may have bearing on the enormous dip in donations of books and book-related items to the organization.

Ms Marshall is also in charge of the Book Nook at the library, where new and gently used donated books are sold at a minimal cost. The inventory there is down, as well, she said. âItâs not that Iâm getting picky. We just arenât getting the number of books donated that we have in the past,â said Ms Marshall.

As the economy takes a downturn, the Friendsâ book sale is beginning to compete with people selling books online or becoming âgarage booksellers,â Ms Marshall surmises. âWe are competing, I think, with a lot of different things that are going on, but I hope that people will see our special drop-off day as the chance to clean out before the holidays.â

Volunteers will be on hand in the parking lot of the library on October 26 to assist with taking books from cars, and will also provide donors with tax receipts, said Ms Earnshaw.

The Friends of the C.H. Booth Library hopes to take in donations of all categories of books, as well as LPs, CDs, DVDs, videos, and even jigsaw puzzles. âItâs not for tag sale items, though. The donations should be books or book-related,â Ms Marshall said.

The Annual Book Sale raises thousands of dollars that go toward updating and adding to the libraryâs collections, and supporting programs at the library.

For those who are unable to make it to the special book donation day, Ms Marshall noted that donations are accepted at all times during library hours, year around. A cart is located near the entrance by the childrenâs department for donations. If assistance is needed in getting donations to the library, the Friends can help. Call the library at 426-4533 and a volunteer will be in touch.

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The Editor suggest a meeting between the "Rock This Democracy " and the Police Commission. As a former Police Commissioner the Chief should have followed the chain of command and discussed this with the Police Commission. The Chief reports to the Elected Police Commission not our Republican First Selection. Can't help but feel this is Republican politics again making an issue out of a non issue.

Assembly Ordinance?

I support Chief Kullgren’s request to explore permitting, and cost-sharing for large gatherings. The right to protest is a cornerstone of our democracy, and I fully support the constitutional right to free speech and assembly. However, where and how often these protests occur matters. Main Street is not just a symbol — it’s a vital artery for daily life in town. When events are held there monthly, and at increasing scale, they cause disruption to residents, businesses, and traffic. While the Rock This Democracy group may describe these protests as unique or urgent, the frequency — roughly once every two weeks this spring — suggests more of a recurring series than a singular, spontaneous moment of civic expression. This isn’t about silencing anyone. It’s about fairness, public safety, and fiscal responsibility. Every time a protest happens, our police department is forced to assign resources, often on overtime. That expense adds up quickly. If any group wants to use public space regularly, particularly in a way that impacts traffic and requires police presence, then it’s reasonable for the town to consider permitting and cost-sharing — just as we do for other organized events like races, festivals, or parades. Let’s protect everyone’s rights — including the right of the community to function smoothly and the right of taxpayers not to bear undue cost for repeated events. I trust the Council to consider a reasonable path forward that balances speech with responsibility.

David, your passion for transparency would carry more weight if it weren’t routinely wielded like a cudgel. Let's set the record straight: no one is against easier access to documents or better online availability—we all want an informed public. But there's a difference between constructive advocacy and the kind of grandstanding that costs this town time, morale, and taxpayer money. You cite Ridgefield’s practices—great. Let's talk about that like adults. But instead, what we see is a steady stream of accusatory posts, legal challenges, and FOIA blitzes aimed less at solving problems and more at creating headlines. It’s not “slander” to point out that your approach often does more to divide and exhaust than to help. I’ve been at the very meetings you claim are inaccessible or opaque. I’ve seen your group turn logistical hiccups into conspiracy theories. I’ve watched as staff—who already work overtime—are dragged into another fishing expedition while real civic needs are left hanging. You’re not just pushing for access; you’re using the tools of open government to grind its gears to a halt. That’s not progress. That’s obstruction dressed up as advocacy. And the people paying for it—literally—are your neighbors. Let’s stop pretending it’s just about uploading PDFs. The issue here is how we engage. We can have real conversations about modernization without constant accusations, FOIA skirmishes, and Facebook pile-ons. Until then, I’ll continue to call out tactics that undermine, not uplift, our town.

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Its really easy to make assertions and cast doubts from behind a keyboard....a little too easy aparently. You might try conducting the actual research BEFORE doing it next time. If you do, you too will find that there's no need to imagine such a policy to improve public transparency and participation. Take a look at Ridgefield's P&Z meeting agendas on their website for starters. They are just one town that provide links to electronic copies of applications and other public documents, so that their commissioners and residents can easily access them and be well-informed, before meetings and public hearings occur and without making them drive to town hall (during business hours) to ask their land use staff to pull the files and make copies of them, saving everyone time (time is money), and gasoline, and missed work. Most applicants alrleady submit electronic copies, and for those who don't, it's a lot easier for a staffer to scan them once, than to have to make copies every time someone asks for them. And please don't misrepresent or slander those who advocate for smart, low impact & sustainable development policies and practices as 'anti-development'.

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Collections Slow For Annual Sale-Special Book Donation Day Planned At Library

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