The Friends of Kent Memorial Library are pleased to report that we have had another successful book sale this year. All the money made from the sale is used to support Kent Memorial Library programs and purchase materials for the library throughout the year.
Books stored at Second Baptist Church were loaded for their ride to
Father Ted Hall.
Many “hands” go into making this sale happen. First, thanks to Second Baptist Church for providing us with space to sort and store the thousands of books that are donated to us during the year. Second, is the generous invitation by Sacred Heart Church to use Father Ted Hall for our sale for the tenth 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 spacious hall are very much appreciated. This year we were especially appreciative of this indoor location when thunderstorms rolled in Saturday afternoon, causing activities at Suffield on the Green to shut down at 2 p.m. Our customers could stay dry in Father Ted Hall and keep on shopping!
The Town also pitched in again. The Public Works crew helped us move saved books back to Second Baptist after the sale and the Suffield schools loaned, de-livered and picked up 20 extra tables we requested. It’s an amazing team effort, and we are so appreciative of the Town’s continued support.
And then we have all our generous book donors and loyal volunteers. This sale could 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 our storage location during the year. They sort and label and clean and organize the books into the 70+ categories customers have to choose from, putting in thousands of hours.
This year we needed to move our 30,000 books from Second Baptist to Sacred Heart on Labor Day. We were a little worried at first since the Town couldn’t help us that day because it was a holiday and second, that it might be a lot harder to get the volunteers we needed. However, over 40 volunteers showed up, some with pick-up trucks or vans and one with a trailer (thank you, Matt Auchy). There was energy and enthusiasm and a desire to “get the job done”. We moved all those books in two hours – a new record!
Volunteers unloading some of the 30,000 books at Sacred Heart Church.
Our volunteers set up the books and work the book sale, act as cashiers and help us break down after the sale. Kerry and Bob White, Nancy Smith, Ruth Zimmerman and Anne Borg are the core of the volunteer effort, and each put in hundreds of hours each year. 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, the first Saturday of each month, will begin on Saturday, October 4 from 10 a.m. – noon at the library on Main Street. The Friends’ book shelves will again be stocked with books for sale at that time. Stop in and browse!