Friends Hold Another Successful Book Sale

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Young Claudia Skoczylas, 9, searches intently for another book to add to her selections. She was one of many customers who came to the Library Friends’ sale on Sunday, October 11, when prices were cut in half.

Photo by Lester Smith

Young Claudia Skoczylas, 9, searches intently for another book to add to her selections. She was one of many customers who came to the Library Friends’ sale on Sunday, October 11, when prices were cut in half.

The Friends of Kent Memorial Library (KML) are pleased to report that we have had another successful book sale this year. Our proceeds from the three-day sale were over $14,500. This money will be used to support Kent Memorial Library programs and purchase materials for the library throughout the year.

Many “hands” go into making this sale happen. First, the donated space at Kevin Armata’s Windsor Marketing Group’s (WMG) Windsor Locks warehouse has been a huge help over the past four years. This space allows us to collect, sort and store the thousands of books that are donated to us during the year. WMG also provides us with a truck and driver to move the thousands of books to the sale location in August – a real help!

Second is the generous invitation by Sacred Heart Church to use Father Ted Hall for our sale again this year. Without this wonderful space, we would be hard pressed to find another suitable location, and this is definitely “suitable.” The handicapped accessibility of the building, the clean, convenient rest rooms, and the comfortable air-conditioned room are very much appreciated. We were able again this year to hold an early-bird sale Friday night that many customers appreciated because their schedules would not permit them to attend the sale on Saturday or Sunday. Our volunteers were especially grateful for this indoor location. Gone were the worries about what to do in case of rain. When the sale closed on Saturday night, we didn’t have to carry tables filled with heavy books into the library for overnight protection. We simply straightened the books, turned out the lights, and locked the doors.

Third is the generous help we get from John Cloonan, Public Works Director, and his crew (including Linda Zaffetti). Jim Richardson helped move books from the WMG truck into the church and Jim Johnson and Clint White supervised prisoners who helped at the warehouse before the sale and loading and moving boxes after the sale. It’s a wonderful team effort.

And then we have all our generous book donors and loyal volunteers. This sale would not happen without them. Volunteers sort donated books on the first Saturday of each month at the library-all year! Volunteers move hundreds of boxes of donated books to the warehouse during the year. They sort and label and clean and organize the books into the 60+ categories you have to choose from each year, putting in thousands of hours. They set up the books and work the book sale and act as cashiers. Without our many, many dedicated volunteers, the book sale would be history! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all your help.

And we begin again. Monthly book collections for next year’s sale will begin on Saturday, October 1 from 10 a.m. – noon at the temporary library on Fyler Place. The Friends book cart will again be stocked with books for sale at that time. Stop in and browse!

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