Library book sale to raise funds for a new sidewalk
Thousands of books and other materials will be available for a freewill donation.
The Dover Public Library’s annual sale of discarded materials will be Saturday, Aug. 10 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Included will be thousands of books and a few new additions this year. The event is being labeled the Sidewalk Book Sale, but not because all the books are outdoors.
It’s a sidewalk sale in terms of what the funds raised from book sales will be used for, Library Director Jim Gill said.
“We’re looking to raise money to replace a chunk of the sidewalk at the edges of the library. That’s different this year. Some of the sale will be held outside on the sidewalk in a safe area, and then most of the sale will be in the community room as always,” Gill said.
Gill said there are thousands of books ready to be included in the sale.
“We’ll have discarded books as well as books which have been donated. And this year we will also have materials that go beyond books,” he said. “We’ll have DVDs, audiobooks, computers and technology items. It will almost be like a rummage sale as well as the traditional books sale we have every year. We like the idea of spreading it outside a little to give some more room for people to explore and find the book they didn’t even know they needed.”
The Book Cellar, operated by the Friends of the Dover Public Library, also will be open that day in the library’s basement, adding to the potential to find just the right books and other materials.
The main bulk of the books offered will be discards from the library collection. Gill said choosing what to let go is not an easy process.
“In my own view, every book needs to earn its keep in the library. It could be a book of local significance. It could be a literary classic. It could be a release that’s very popular and just keeps going out again and again. But we have limited space at the library, so we do what we call weeding reports,” Gill said. “We’re weeding the collection almost like you would weed a garden. We look at circulation. What hasn’t gone out in three or four years? It’s that kind of process. We use the information from the reports to make decisions about what needs to go to the book sale.”
You can add to your collection at prices you determine are fair. “That’s the best thing,” Gill said. “It’s all by donation. Of course, the Book Cellar is priced very reasonably. But the Sidewalk Book Sale will all be by donation.”
Gill said past experience has shown patrons of the annual book sale are generous in their giving for the materials they take home. The library will need to raise $5,000 or more to cover the cost of the sidewalk replacement.
“It has become a tripping hazard we really need to address,” Gill said. “We have a quote, and we want to get this finished soon.”
The book sale will have a graphic thermometer in place to track fundraising progress through the day.
Whatever category of book you might want to browse, you’ll find it at the library book sale. “Lots of cookbooks and biographies this year,” Gill said. “We’ll always have a great selection of children’s books as well. It will be a very diverse representation of our collection.”
Members of the Friends of the Dover Public Library will have a preview on Friday, Aug. 9 from 5-7 p.m. “If you’re not a friend of the library, come in and sign up to get access to the preview,” Gill said.
The Dover Public Library is located at 525 N. Walnut St.
Visit www.doverlibrary.org.