Book sale delights readers
Twice a year book lovers take advantage of the Friends of the Library fundraiser to expand their personal collections of the written word.
There was no limit to the amount of books those in attendance could purchase by donation and there was thousands of books to choose from during Saturday’s sale which took place at the main branch of the Prince George Public Library.
On top of row upon row of end-to-end tables were a variety of books. Those agile enough could take a closer look at the books in the boxes on the floor as well but it took some deep knee bends to get there and back.
Visibly weighed down by her reusable bag brimming with elementary-school-age appropriate books, inner-city school teacher Cynthia Branigan’s arms were almost full with choices for herself, too.
With a slightly sheepish smile, Branigan explained that those books in her arms were mostly her guilty pleasure - best sellers and historical fiction by authors she used to like to read in Britain. She lived there years ago with her British husband.
“This is an extremely worthwhile event,” the primary teacher said. “I share it with my students that I come to this event so that their parents might come down. I am one of those teachers whose classroom is packed with books because I want to make sure my students can read every type of book they want.”
In Branigan’s bag was books about owls, bats and science, among many other topics.
“I’m always looking for something new and something different I can use in my teaching,” Branigan said.
Margaret Johnston, president of the Friends of the Library Society, was sitting at the reception desk that saw people making their donations in return for their new-to-them books, DVDs, videos, and CDs.
Johnston said thousands of books will find their way to new homes and all proceeds from the sale go back into whatever the local library needs.
Some of the funds raised in the past have gone to things like the digitization of the Prince George Citizen and more will be directed toward the digitization of the Prince George Free Press. Another project saw the Friends of the Library donating to the Aquascape, a giant fish tank that can be viewed from inside the Keith Gordon Room as well as the children’s section of the library and other funds will go toward the mobile library that provides outreach to those who can’t make it to the either of the two branches of the local library.
Johnston said the Friends of the Library has a 10- foot storage container that was filled from floor to ceiling with donations from the community as well as those items discarded by the library.
A perk of being a member of the Friends of the Library Society is that for the $5 annual membership fee, patrons can attend the preview book sale held the evening before the event to take advantage of the best selection.
“There were 197 people here last night,” Johnston said. There were hundreds more in attendance Saturday.