A successful summer ritual

Over the 24 years I've belonged to the Friends of the Library, we have almost always held a summer book sale during our town's summer festival, now called "Heritage Days."  This year was no different.

We set up the sale Thursday afternoon although I met the tent company representative that morning.  John was already setting it up when I arrived at 9 am, and he did a great job.  A bunch of us, including two young people we paid, put up tables supplied by the city, two pop up tents, and a whole load of books in boxes and on carts.  It took our relatively well-oiled machine under two hours.  

Friday morning, bright and early, a crew opened the sale for the day.  This is a picture taken by a new group in town that is supporting various causes, including the library.  These folks sold lovely tote bags that people could fill with books for free.  Half the money came to the Friends and the other half went directly to the library.  The Friends always offer very low prices and, this year, we added "buy five, get one free," which seemed to confound a few of the cashiers.  People always enjoy a bargain, though.

I helped out with sales on Friday afternoon and all day Saturday until the parade started at 1 pm.  That's when we got busy cleaning up.  All books were boxed and stacked in the library's vestibule.  On Monday, before the library opens, I'll meet the recyclers and wave goodbye to about 100 boxes worth of dregs.  Any books going to various giveaway sites have already been siphoned off for distribution this week.  The $2,000-plus we earned this weekend will go to programs for all ages during the coming year.  Today I plan to take it easy, quilt and read a bit, and begin to enjoy what's left of summer.