SEEDS OF ADVENTURE

Library Friends prepare for book sale

The Lorain Public Library System Main Branch has resumed its book sales for 2021.

The Friends of the Lorain Public Library Inc. this week are preparing for the sale that will run from Sept. 16-23 at the library, 351 W. Sixth St. in Lorain.

The sale will have thousands of volumes of adult and children’s literature and nonfiction, along with audiobooks and DVDs for sale.

Each library of the Lorain Public Library System has its own Friends Group to raise money for equipment, building improvements or projects that cannot be funded through the library system’s budget.

The library holds sales in January, May and September, but the sales went on hold in 2020 and early 2021 due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, said Jay Metzger of Lorain.

Metzger and his wife, Suzann, are volunteer book sorters for the Friends of the Lorain Public Library Inc.

The organization has more than 150 members and is open to more, he said.

Setting up the book sale is no small task.

The volumes are sorted by subject matter and author and other characteristics, such as large print, he said.

The Main Library has a second-floor room devoted to that, Metzger said, and the volunteers use tally sheets to count boxes and determine how much space each genre needs.

The goal is to create an organized, neat and easyto-navigate shopping experience for customers, he said.

“For us that’s key: As a shopper I want to be happy because I’m happy you’re here,” Metzger said. “We want to you be happy and impressed as soon as you see this.”

The sales draw hundreds of people from Lorain and other communities, he said.

The Friends try to keep the atmosphere upbeat and people like it, Metzger added.

The September sale is on the second floor and in the space known as Meeting Room A, which for years, was the primary site for the book sales.

A preview the evening will take place Sept. 16.

Hours are 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Sept. 17 and 18.

On Sept. 20 and 21, items are Half Price Days, and open from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Nickel Day is 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Sept. 22; and Penny Day is 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Sept. 23.

RICHARD PAYERCHIN — THE MORNING JOURNAL Friends of the Lorain Public Library Inc. volunteers Jay Metzger, left, and Pat Rohner, both from Lorain, sort books to prepare for the latest Friends’ book sale. It will run Sept. 17to 23at the Main Library, 351W. Sixth St.

RICHARD PAYERCHIN — THE MORNING JOURNAL Friends of the Lorain Public Library Inc.’s next book sale will run Sept. 17to 23at the Main Library, 351W. Sixth St. There are thousands of volumes of adult and children’s literature, along with audiobooks and DVDs.