It's only a hop, skip and a jump from Milford

In the words of library officials:

Early on the morning of July 25, booklovers from all over the country will be lined up for the Pequot Library’s 47th Annual Book Sale. This year, as always, they’ll flock to tents and into the Library building to browse through an astonishing array of almost 150,000 books and other media offered for sale at bargain prices. They are some hoping to find special titles on their wish lists. Some are collectors, and others just looking for a good read at a good price. Chances are, all will leave with a great find at a good price - doubly important during these tight economic times.

Among them will be teachers taking advantage of the Books for Teachers program, which issues vouchers to over 270 pre-selected teachers from Bridgeport and New Haven schools to select up to $100 worth of books for use in their classroom or for their own use. Funded by generous contributions from the Renee B. Fisher Foundation, Lori Hashizume, former Book Sale Chair, helped establish the program and still remains involved. This program provides an enormous benefit to the teachers of these under-served school systems.

For those wanting to be among the first people into the Book Sale, at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday July 24th, the day before the sale, booklovers may pick up a numbered admission ticket. Traditionally, these tickets are given to the first 100 people who will be the first admitted in the order of the number on their tickets to the Tents and the Auditorium on Friday morning when the Sale opens. No admission ticket is necessary after the first 100.

Throughout the sale, which runs from July 25 to July 29, a silent auction will feature up to a dozen special titles or editions. They will be on dispolay in the Renell Room of the Library along with the other “special-interest” books of unusual value. Bids will be accepted for this silent auction by email as well. Watch the Library’s Web site starting mid-July for more details. Doug Fried handles this aspect of the sale with a sure knowledge of good books.

Following last year’s success, the sale will once again feature a media tent, with records, DVDs, tapes, and other non-book media. LPs, long thought to be outmoded, have enjoyed a comeback in recent years thanks to an appreciation of their cover art, and the development of technology that enables them to be transfered to MP3 files for use on portable devices. Lee Friedman and Paige Gillies are very active in this area, and their hard work is immediately evident when you enter the tent. There will also be an assortment of prints, selected and displayed by Stephanie Weaver. This selection increases each year, and is an exciting aspect of the sale.

Sunday, July 27 will be the 3rd Annual Young Readers’ Day, with a selection of specially donated “like-new” books under a separate tent. The donation of these books was made possible by the hard work of Paige Gillies. Ruth Frantz is working with Susan Ei, our Children’s Librarian to make sure there will be a whole raft of fun things for kids to do. The theme this year is Princess and Pirates, and we are encouraging young kids to don their favorite princess gown or pirate patch and come in costume. Each child who shows up in costume will receive a voucher for a free book and can participate in the Pirates and Princess Parade which will take place at 11:45.

During Young Readers’ Day, Mary Ann Hall and her family of singers will be there once again this year for a concert, and there will be face-painting and theme-related crafts as well.

Preparation for each year’s sale begins before the tents come down in July. Under the direction of Chair John Hartwell and Book Sale committee members Barbara Young, Doug Fried, Jim Fast, Llew Almeida, Linda Teja, Ruth Anne Baumgartner, Ed Canning, Ruth Frantz, Paige Gillies, Colin Green, Cindi Kruth, Betty Oderwald, and Stephanie Weaver, over 200 volunteers collect, sort, and carefully store books and other media for the next sale, and work on the day of the sale.

The staff is a crucial part of this team as well. Bob Repko works on the Book Sale day in and day out throughout the year and Linda McCormack is not far behind in the contribution she makes to the success of the Sale. Starting in May other members of the staff join in with Robin Jerrild, Robyn Filippone, Liz Hanusovsky, Susan Ei, Vicki Hanusovsky, and Danielle Carriera all helping out as well.

During the four days of the sale, volunteers are needed to assist buyers, help at check-out, replenish stock, and perform a number of other tasks. We were almost overwhelmed last year with the record number of attendees and sales, so we are particularly eager to welcome new volunteers to our ranks of dedicated people. To volunteer, or obtain more information about the Book Sale, please contact the Library at (203) 259-0346.

The library is at 720 Pequot Ave., Southport section of Fairfield.

47th ANNUAL PEQUOT LIBRARY BOOK SALE HOURS
Friday, July 25th to Tuesday, July 29th, 2008
NO ADMISSION CHARGE
ALL PROCEEDS BENEFIT PEQUOT LIBRARY
Friday, July 25th 9 AM to 8 PM All items double the marked price
Saturday, July 26th 9 AM to 5:30 PM Items priced as marked
Sunday, July 27th 9 AM to 5:30 PM Items priced as marked
Monday, July 28th 9 AM to 8 PM Items half off marked price
Tuesday, July 29th 9 AM to 2 PM $5 a Bag Day!

Sunday is “Young Readers’ Day”!