‘True Trekkie’ Vouches for FOCAL
Gladys James is from a family of Sioux City farmers in northwest Iowa. That’s where her love of books and libraries began. “There was a nice library within a block of the house,” says Gladys. “I went there at least twice a week, especially during the summer.” Gladys and her mother, Vivian Blair, volunteered around Little Rock for years. Then “We saw an ad on TV that said, ‘We need volunteers!’ so we came on down,” to the library. That’s how they got started with FOCAL and the book sale. “There were only a handful of volunteers at the time, eight or nine,” says Gladys, “and my mother was 96. We constantly worked at sorting.” Gladys has been a FOCAL volunteer for nine years now. She works three days a week, up to eight hours a day, sorting thousands of books—stoking her passion for mysteries, thrillers, true crime, and science fiction. “They’re so exciting . . . I’m a true Trekkie!” she chuckles. Gladys not only has a passion for the mysteries and thrillers, she’s in charge of that section of the basement, which means she’s responsible for sorting books, deciding which of them make it to the sales floor, how they’re organized, and monitoring what’s selling and what’s not. When it comes to the book sale’s mysteries and thrillers, Gladys is the expert. Whatever she says goes. If you volunteer to work in the sorting room, there’s a good chance you’ll be trained by Gladys. “I can’t tell you how many I’ve trained,” she says. “The number one thing that makes a good volunteer is the willingness to work hard. A lot of the volunteers are so knowledgeable about books, but the ones that aren’t, they’ll do good too . . . It’s a great place to volunteer.” A few things have changed over the years: “The quality of the books is so much better and everything is more professional. We were in a smaller area to sort, and things were scattered. Now areas are set up better, and it’s easier for customers to find what they want. We also have good help from outside volunteers who transport the books to customers’ cars, and that’s really great,” but, in a perfect world, “we’d sell all of our books!” Vivian was over 100 when she left FOCAL and the book sales. Gladys is 79. When asked what keeps her going, she says, “It’s the people... they’re just great.” And so is Gladys.