The Much Anticipated Friends' Book Sale!
Each year the Friends of the Essex Library holds two books sales, one in the fall and one in the spring at the Essex Library. One can find quality books on any subject, plus CD’s, DVD’s, videos, and more. On occasion, the sale will have a special collection donated by an individual. You won’t want to miss our next sale. People come from miles around.Spring Book Sale
May 17, from 10 AM to 5 PM, and May 18 from 1-5 PM.
SPECIAL NOTES ON THE MAY 2008 SALE
This is another splendid Spring Sale for all categories. The items mentioned below are things that make it slightly unusual.
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Science Fiction: We usually have little to offer in this category, but this time there are several boxes of Sci-Fi & Fantasy paperbacks in nice condition. If you are fans, look in the room of mass-market paperbacks for boxes labeled “Sci Fi.” Some of the authors represented are David Eddings, Timothy Good, Ann Downer, Maggie Furey, Raymone E. Feist, Alan Dean Foster, Janny Wurts, Terry Brooks, Robert Jordan, Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman, Roger Taylor & Conan Galore, Terry Prachett, Tad Williams, David Drake, Neil Gaiman, and Asimov, etc.
We seldom have more than a boxful of library discards in our sales, but this spring the librarians have been weeding vigorously in the History & Biography stacks, and we have saved a few special oldies for the sale to compliment an already terrific selection of books in that category. (For the most part, our library discards are put on the “free” shelves in the entryway and quickly disappear during regular library hours.)
Foreign Language: Read/speak Welsh? We have 2 mysteries (by Gill and Lovesey) written in Welsh for the May sale.
Travel & Nature: Anglophiles should be sure to visit this category. A resident who lived in England for several years has given us many books, maps, etc. in nice condition. (Other countries are well represented too.)
In the Entryway: We have a slightly ragged two-volume set of the 1971 Oxford English Dictionary in this sale – no slipcase, no magnifier, and a “bitten” corner on Vol. I (A-O), but the text is solid and complete, and the covers are ok except for the bite. And there are also several basic hardcover, thumb-indexed dictionaries in good condition.
Also in the Entryway will be two Children’s items: A pink Leap Pad with 4 books and 4 cartridges in good working condition and a nice set of 12 Lemony Snicket books.
See the following Q and A for information about all our book sales.
What kinds of books/ items do you want for the sales?
We welcome donations of all books in good condition for both adults and children with the following exceptions:
No Reader’s Digest Condensed Books
No moldy, smelly, water-damaged books (dusty & old OK)
No National Geographic Magazines
No Text or Course Books over 5 years old
No Computer Manuals over 2 years old
No Encyclopedias except a complete set of World Book
1998 or later. BUT see note directly below.
We know someone who would actually LIKE to have your old encyclopedias if they’re in reasonably good condition! You can email him at dtheberg@us.ibm.com.
In addition to books, we also welcome
Compact Discs (CD’s of music) in original case
DVD’s
Videotapes in original box
Books-on-tape in original box
Books-on-CD in original box
We find we can no longer sell individual cassette tapes of music. (We put 98 into our Spring 2007 sale and had 96 left over.)
When and where do I bring my donations to the library?
Please bring them in any time the library is open. If you have a lot to carry, first see the person at the circulation desk, and she will open the door near the handicapped parking space for you. If you have MORE than 2 or 3 bags/boxes to bring in at one time, please call the library (767-0175) first to make sure we have room for them to come all at once.
Then what happens to them?
Donated items are first screened for use by the library and then cleaned if necessary, sorted, priced individually, and put into flats for the book sale. We do not have a lot of sorting room, so they go into category boxes in the order in which they arrive; nothing is alphabetized.
What about magazines?
We don’t usually take magazines. But last year someone brought in a large box of “Fine Woodworking” magazines in nice condition, which we were able to sell. And JUST before a sale, we take CURRENT ISSUES ONLY of decorating, fashion, or “high-end” magazines. For example, in May we will can often get .50 each for May and June issues in splendid condition of Martha Stewart Living, Town & Country, GH, Real Simple, Antiques, Gourmet, Oprah, etc. But nothing older, please.
Can I get a tax deduction?
The library will be happy to give you a form that thanks you for your donations but does not put a monetary value on them. Just ask for it when you bring your books in.
More questions about donations? Contact Dee Grover, doragrover@yahoo.com, 860-767-1893.
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What categories do you use for the BOOK SALES?
Our categories are listed below. But there are 2 areas with mixtures of all subjects: the Book Carts and the Large Books. So if you’re looking for books about wild animals, try Travel & Nature AND the book carts AND the large books. (Materials for children are at the end of this list, as are any comments or specific information about the next book sale coming up.)
Fiction: Includes science fiction and fantasy (See also Mass Market Paperbacks below).
Biography & History: Our most popular nonfiction category. Includes memoirs, politics, archaeology, often current issues, and sometimes books you might expect to find in other categories. A book about an artist might be here instead of in the Art category, or a book about a scientific discovery might be here instead of in Miscellaneous. A travel book or booklet containing a lot of history might be here instead of in Travel & Nature.
Humor, Literature, Poetry, Drama: Includes short stories, tales, cartoons, classics, plays, literary criticism, and grammar-related materials. (But books of, say, adventurous journeys might also be found in Travel & Nature.)
Maritime & Sports: Usually 90% of these books in our sale have to do with sailing or nautical subjects: racing & cruising, boat repair & construction, Waterway Guides, journeys & sea battles, etc. There are usually some nautical fiction books in here too (“Master& Commander,” “Hornblower”.) Sometimes we have nautical charts. The other 10% would be other sports – hunting & fishing, golf, baseball, football, etc. & perhaps martial arts.
Travel & Nature: Includes travel guides, travel writings, books/ pamphlets/folders/maps from places around the world, from English villages to Alaskan adventures. It also covers natural history, bird/animal/tree identification books and stories. (But books about domestic pets would probably be in the Miscellaneous category.)
Art: Includes books about art, art museums, artists, instructional materials, prints, catalogs. (See also Biography & History, Large Books, Book-Cart Books.)
Miscellaneous: A large, catch-all category, including philosophy & psychology, science & math, religion, self-help & how-to, pets, interior decorating, crafts, woodworking, current issues, politics, business & personal finance, music/dance, medicine & health, statistics, electronics, etc. If we have any recent or useful text books, they are probably in here.
Cooking: Mainly cookbooks but often books about food-related subjects like dieting, chefs, restaurants as well, sometimes high-end cooking magazines like recent issues of Saveur.
Gardening: All kinds of gardening, flowers, landscaping, wildflower guides, and often flower arranging too. (See also Travel & Nature.)
Computers & Foreign Language: Foreign language dictionaries, phrase books, instructional books, books written in foreign languages. Recent books on computers, software, internet, etc
Audio-Visual Items: There is blanket pricing here for single items:
Video tapes: $1.00 each
Music CD’s: $3.00 each
Abridged books-on-tape: $1.00 each
Unabridged books-on-tape: $2.50
Other items are individually priced.
The 3 Book Carts: This is our “wild- card” category and a customer favorite. The carts hold some books from each of the above categories, in addition to extra-small and extra-tall books, blank journals/calendars, books with no printing on the spine, off-beat subjects, school yearbooks/directories, music notation (“piano books” and song books), often holiday books, children’s books more appealing to adults or those needing a little “protection” (like pop-ups).
Mass-market Paperbacks: These are .50 each, except for the “extra longs,” recent mass-market paperbacks that retail for $9.95 and are about ¾ of an inch longer than the standard ones. The extra-longs are $1.00 each.
Large Books in all categories: This is a bookcase full of large, coffee-table-size books from all subject categories.
Ephemera Etc.: This table might hold anything from paper ephemera to flash cards to bookmarks, occasional complete puzzles, photos, bookmarks, posters, etc.
The Library Entryway: This is where to find sets of books, hard-cover dictionaries, maybe an atlas, a box of current or interesting magazines for sale, usually a small carton of paperback plays, or anything way “oversize.”
Magazines, etc:. There will usually be a box in the entryway of magazines, auction catalogs, and other magazine-type publications for sale -- either current issues or something old, unusual, or interesting.
Children’s Books and Videos: This is a multi-faceted category. There is basic blanket-pricing here of $1.00 for hard covers and $.50 for paperbacks, except as otherwise priced.
“Extra-nice” hard-cover picture books are priced at $3.00 and “extra-nice” paperback picture books are $1.00 each. Board books are $1.00 each, and the Little Goldens and similar books are .50 each. (These are all in separate boxes.) Hard covers for older children are individually priced. (See also Book Carts.)
Individual videos are $1.00 each. DVD’s are priced individually. If we have any games, they will be with the adult materials.
More questions about categories, contact Dee Grover, doragrover@yahoo.com, 860-767-1893.
