Thousands of Materials for Sale at the Library Book Sale
By Robin Vinci at April 1, 2024 | 7:00 am | Print
The Friends of the New Britain Public Library are going through thousands of books this week in preparation for the Spring Book Sale April 13-16.
“We start our sale with a window theme,” said Brenda Bemben, standing in front of a magnificent display of books. “This one is America the Beautiful. We have a bit of everything including the Universal Food Chopper.”
The group has two book sales a year and also keeps many books in a spot at the library called the Everyday Book Sale. It changes categories each month with ones surrounding National Poetry Month, Pet Are Wonderful and books related to the sea in April.
“We’ve also added books by Beverly Lewis,” said Bemben. “She writes calm Amish books.”
The book sale will be held in the basement of the library and new books will be brought in each day as books sell.
“The library gave us some extra space,” said Bemben. “We make them some good money.”
The last book sale brought in about $20,000.
Books include fiction, foreign language, collectibles, reference, parenting, non-fiction, how to and much more. CDs, DVDs, audio books, vinyl’s, sheet music, vintage records and more are also for sale.
Kid’s paperbacks are 25 cents, regular paperbacks are 50 cents, large paperbacks are $1, hardcover books are $1.50 and then there are specialty books.
Wendy Whicher takes a look at books that seem to be worth a little bit more due to age, topic or collectibility. She goes through a system to find the value of the book before pricing it at 40 percent of its value.
“You can ask whatever you want for a book,” said Bemben. “But, you’re certainly not going to get it. We price our books reasonably and the dealers don’t seem to scoff at it.”
“A book valued at $7.50 cents,” said Whicher. “I would price $3 for example. It is very attractive for dealers.”
Whicher also negotiates prices during the sale days.
On April 13, there is a $5 dollar admission charge to enter and it consists mostly of dealers and collectors. Friends of the New Britain Public Library can enter for free with membership.
“We have about 30-40 people come for the preview,” said Bemben. “They stay a couple hours.”
But, do not worry; there will be plenty books for all. The room that sells the books, the Community Room, holds only a small portion of what is available and donations grow as the sale date gets closer.
Anyone who wants to donate can drop books off at the double doors near the back parking lot of the library.
Only books in good condition without mold are accepted. If there is a little mold on the outside Whicher has a remedy. She said to take a clean cloth and dab white vinegar on it to clean the mold. It should remove most of it.
The book sale is open April 13 from 3-6:30 p.m. for the $5 admission. The rest of the days, admission is free. It is open April 14 from 3-6:30 p.m.; April 15 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and April 16 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
