It’s Hard to Please Everyone!
I was disappointed to read Michael Bernstein’s complaints in the September Suffield Observer about the Friends of the KML book sale. We do sympathize with his frustration with Friday shoppers who use empty boxes to save a place in line before the sale opens, and we will discourage that practice in the future. But we plan to continue welcoming the use of scanners at the sale. We want dealers to come to our sale. This year, almost half of the $16,000 proceeds was made on Friday night, and much of that income came from dealers. All of the money that we make at the sale is used to benefit the Kent Memorial Library.
Our book sale is a three-day event. We urge anyone who dislikes shopping in a crowded room on Friday night to come on Saturday. Mr. Bernstein assumes that dealers “take all of the current books,” but this is not true. When I helped straighten the tables after the sale closed on Friday night, I found hundreds of great books, including best-sellers. On Saturday, happy customers pored over the books, and I saw a couple of children sitting under a table reading. In fact, there were many wonderful “finds” on Sunday, when bargain-hunters returned for our half-price sale. We welcome both the eager shoppers on Friday night and the many customers who enjoy browsing in a relaxed, less crowded atmosphere on Saturday and Sunday. There is room for all.