The Annual Library Sale

As you can see, I didn't hold back at the annual library book sale this year.  The kidlets and I attended the sale on Tuesday, the first day of the sale that is only open to Friends of the Library members.  Armed with a stack full of canvas tote bags, we hit up only two of the sale rooms:  the gold room with extra special great literary treasures (kids and grownups) , and the children's section in the parking garage.  

First, let me just tell you a bit about the annual library sale.  It is enormous.  It raises nearly $30,000.00 for the library each year, which is particularly needed for our library system, since it is grossly underfunded.  The opening day of the library sale, open only to those with a membership, is a very big deal.  All of the librarian wannabees like me come out in full force.  There was such a mad dash for the door when the sale opened a few years ago, that the volunteers for the library sale had to resort to a number system to keep people orderly as they enter the building.  We were number 96 this year, having arrived about 45 minutes before the sale started.  

Shopping in the opening hours of the library sale is very hectic.  More hectic that the opening of a very crazy garage sale.  I was a little nervous about taking all three kidlets by myself this year, hoping that they wouldn't get trampled and wouldn't pitch a fit and wouldn't get lost.  It went very well.  The prospect of bringing home a lot of books if they were good kept my tots in line.  No one seemed frustrated about all of us taking up a lot of space, even in the gold room, where we parked ourselves in front of the fantastic wall of children's books in supreme condition.  

We left with eight tote bags full of books.  It was a bit tricky to move the first five tote bags from the gold room out to the children's section in the  parking garage through the crowd, but people were very patient with us and so excited that the kids were bringing home so many books.  

I did spend a large chunk of change, but I don't feel guilty about that at all.  All the proceeds go right back to the library, and we all just appreciate having the books around the house so much (although I may need to invest in some more book shelves, it seems).  We found some great art books that the kids love looking through, and as you can tell from the picture, a very large stack of children's picture books.  There were many chapter books available too, but it is the picture books that we end up reading, reading, and rereading again which I think are especially important to have on hand.  We are much less likely to reread a chapter book than a picture book, so we are more motivated to check out chapter books from the library than actually own them.  Plus, I cannot help that I have an an enormous love for children's literature:  fiction, nonfiction, picture book AND chapter book.  

After two and a half hours of book browsing, it was time to leave.  I didn't even try to maneuver the kidlets through the adult literature rooms, but some day I will have that shopping experience to look forward to as well.  

Side note:  there were actually a few more books that we got which didn't make it into the picture.  We really did have fun.