Friends of the Library book sale proves perennial popularity
Oct 29, 2023
The sale’s organizer Blair Walker and Library Director Dina St. Pierre discuss where the organizational placards came from.
Volunteers spent months collecting and organizing books for the sale.
Two of the largest sections included romance and young adult novels.
The sale isn’t strictly limited to books. CDs, DVDs and puzzles were also sold.
To prepare for the annual fall book sale, the Friends of the Library and its volunteers spend months collecting and organizing books. Community donations were plentiful and frequent this year, said volunteer Sue Bailey.
“We had so much, that even 3 weeks before, we had to stop [collecting] because they kept coming,” Bailey said.
“And they still keep coming,” said Blair Walker, the sale’s organizer.
The annual book sale ran from Wednesday, Oct. 25 to Saturday, Oct. 28 at the Southworth Library, though the first day was only open to members of the Friends. The event raises money for the Friends of the Libraries’ programming for the year, including AuthorsLive events and the museum pass system through the library.
Walker said she really just wants to “connect people with books,” and create a community atmosphere around the book sale.
“It’s very social, it’s kind of fun,” Walker said. “It is heavy work to a certain extent, because heavy books, but it’s very worthwhile.”
The books were organized by section, from history, to music, to humor and hobbies. A variety of CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays and video games were sold as well. Walker said the Friends even received some antique, rare books this year.
Library Director Dina St. Pierre said the sale saw pretty constant traffic.
“When we unlocked the doors [to the Library] at 9 a.m., there were already people asking when they could get in the room,” St. Pierre said.
Despite the sale’s popularity, the sheer number of books for sale meant that the tables still appeared full heading into the final day. Any leftover books are sold by the pound to Discover Books, which resells them online.
Walker said the Friends are open to representatives from nonprofits or community organizations coming and picking up leftover books for donation.
While the annual sale is not connected to the Dartmouth Public Library beyond using its extra space, St. Pierre said it does drum up some extra foot traffic to the library itself.
“They come in to browse [the sale], then they’re popping into the library to see what we’re doing,” St. Pierre said. “One of the functions of the Friends is to support … the library.”
