Students book it to library fair for bargains

The start of fall means new books for many people since cooler weather leads many to stay indoors. A book lover often goes broke supporting their habit, but how better to indulge your inner book hoarder than by supporting a good cause?

On Sept. 19 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Milledgeville’s public library held a book fair. Barry Reese, the library director, explained exactly where the proceeds of their sales go.

“Every penny goes to the Friends of the Library,” Reese said.

The Friends of the Library is an organization whose main mission is to support the community. One of the ways it does this is to pay for all the prizes for the vacation reading program. The reading program happens every summer and children from around Milledgeville are invited to participate. They can read up to 50 books to receive the special prizes that the Friends of the Library buys.

Volunteers from the group run the fair. Kell Carpenter, the reference librarian, said that Mary Vinson Memorial Library has the best prizes thanks to this fundraiser. Their ultimate goal is to encourage children to read more. This year the book fair and the money it raises are more important than ever.

“We used to get grant money from the state, but we had to file a budget cut,” Carpenter said.

Tough economic times have hit the library hard. Carpenter explained the importance of the vacation reading program because the prizes promote incentives for the children to read more.

“We’ve set a record every year that we’ve done the fair for the past few years. Last year we raised $8,500,” Reese said.

This year was no different, with over $8,800 raised. The fair has been a tradition for 29 years. Members of the community donate books for the fair.

“There are two storage sheds full of books to sell plus a storage room in the library building itself,” Reese said.

Paperbacks sold for 50 cents each and hardbacks sold for $1 a piece, but for $5, visitors bought a “bargain bag,” into which they crammed as many books as they could fit.

The day of the fair the weather was hot and sticky, but that did not stop people from showing up. At the start of the sale, people were already lined up to buy their bags. Tables were set up filled with books of different genres from the classics to self-help and everywhere in between. Inside the library itself there were games for kids as well as food for the customers.

Seniors Alicia Carter and Maggie Tran found out about the book fair from their roommate. Carter, a psychology major, discovered some textbooks as well as some fun reads.

“I found some nursing books that will really help me,” Tran, a nursing major, said.

If you missed out this year be sure to stop by next year. But get there early because the crowds always do.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 25 2009. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry