David Broyles | The News
Mount Airy Friends of the Library Volunteer Pauline France arranges books that will be on sale today to benefit the library. The sale today will continue until 8 p.m. Friday, the sale will be held from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. A half-price sale will be held Saturday from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m.
David Broyles | The News
Mount Airy Friends of the Library volunteers Dawn Walker and Wendy Tatman bring in some of the books donated to help with the annual fall fundraiser. The book sale has been held at the library since the 1980s. A total of $3,000 was raised last year to support the facility.
David Broyles | The News
These are some of the books that will be available at the Friends of the Library Fall book sale that is going on this week at the Mount Airy Library. A half price sale is set for Saturday from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m.
Mount Airy Friends of the Library volunteers are excited about the fall book sale, with a large variety of books donated and now available for purchase.
“This is the most we’ve ever had donated,” said friends of the library spokesperson Dawn Walker. “I’m really excited. You name it and we’ve got it. This sale gets bigger every year.”
According to Walker, the fundraising event will continue today at the library on Rockford Street until 8:30 p.m. and Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m., and a half price sale is scheduled for Saturday from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. Hard back volumes will be sold for one dollar each and paper backs will be 50 cents each. Movies on VHS and DVDs will also be offered for sale.
“We have tons of cookbooks,” added Walker. “We have books on art, young adult titles, children’s books and a whole lot more.” Walker explained the group began receiving donations literally after the last sale and also collects the volumes for the semi-annual fundraiser throughout the year.
Walker said the library processes many of the donations to enhance its basic inventory. Head Librarian Pat Gwyn explained the cookbook section of the library has especially benefited with families that donated a great quantity of books after selling and closing out several homes.
Gwyn said $3,000 was raised to help a variety of projects at the library by the last book sale. New tables were purchased after one fundraising cycle and that money also supported the summer reading program at the library as well as book signing events featuring authors. She said similar sales have been held for the library since the 1980s and the first $800 earned were used to buy the first computer at the facility.
“The idea is not only to supplement our programs but to get books into the hands of people who enjoy having books in their homes.”
Gwyn said the library continues to enjoy active support and patronage from the community. She said that the appearance of electronic books has not seemed to adversely impact the facility. She said traditional books continue to be the core of the library’s services. She cited the city’s voting win in the Lego Read Build and Play contest as evidence of enthusiasm for the library — the library won a grant by having the most votes of any library participating across the nation, with more than 100,000 votes.
Walker said electronic books seem to be used by readers more because of their portability and have not taken the place of books but are being used to supplement them during tough economic times. Gwyn speculated many readers are downsizing the amount of books in their homes.
Walker stressed the benefits of establishing the habit of reading early on with kids and said her children always seem to have a book in hand. Gwyn said the Friends of the Library hold a variety of fun raising events in addition to the two book sales yearly. She said there are about 150 members in the friends of the library group and they would love to have additional persons join.
“Our library depends on fundraisers like this,” concluded Gwyn. “Our budget doesn’t go as far as it used to because of the added costs of the technology we now use.”
Reach David Broyles at dbroyles@heartlandpublications or 719-1952.
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