Books filling every nook and cranny, boxes of them taking up tables across the room. Right as you step off the Kent Free Library elevator, you have to think fast in deciding which direction to start looking.
This is what the lower level of library will look like once again, starting Thursday. The four-day book sale hosted by Friends of Kent Free Library includes thousands of books and a wide range of CDs, DVDs and puzzles.
The Friends are a volunteer organization that supports the library by fundraising and advocating. They also put on events like their bi-annual book sale, which is their main way of collecting funds.
This season’s book sale generated more books than expected — around 30,000.
“We have the warehouse down here, but we don’t quite have enough tables and room to put things out,” said Damen Rae, the group’s president.
The Friends spend months collecting books for the sale, doing inventory and organizing them.
“First they come in through community donations, and another way is through discarded library materials,” said the library’s Marketing and Communications Specialist, Paige Besman.
If the library has extra copies, or materials that haven’t been checked out in a while, they are often donated to the group. Most books in the sale come from community member’s donations.
“Sometimes its from an estate where somebody has a lot of really interesting things,” Rae said. “We have one over there that’s from 1762.”
While some books sell fast, other stay on the shelves longer.
“Two sales ago we got so many history books that we can only put a third of them out,” he said. “We’re still putting them out now.”
The first day of the sale is for members of the group only. The following days open up to the public. Most books are priced at, or around $1, with prices up to $4 for newer copies.
“People start lining up an hour before and then they come down the elevators and run in; it’s really exciting,” Rae said.
The warehouse is filled with tables covered in boxes of books of all kinds. Each box has a label that marks the genre.
On the last day of the sale shoppers are given a bag to fill up for $8. The remaining books are saved for future sales or donated to local organizations.
“Sometimes Habitat for Humanity puts a little bookcase in each house that they make and they can get books from us,” Rae said.
The book sale first began through the aisles of the library, but has grown so large that it now fills the entire lower level. Planning for the sale happens throughout the year with volunteers sorting and organizing the thousands of books leading up to the big day.
“The library is super grateful for our Friends group,” Besman said. “They do such a great job organizing everything for the book sale and putting it on for the community.”
Talia Milewich is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].