Library Friends Collecting for Annual Book Sale

Friends of the Library of the Chathams are currently collecting donations for their Annual Book Sale, to be held in March.

Each year the Friends collect books, DVDs, VHSs, CDs, audio cassettes and numerous other items for the book sale. Estimates in former years have been up to 50,000 items donated for the sale, the Friends' largest fundraiser of the year.

Residents leave bags, boxes and piles of their books in the hallway from the rear parking lot into the library all year long, even though collections for the book sale only begin in January.

The Friends collect the books and bring them downstairs, where they are sorted and readied for sale. Typically it takes 40 volunteer hours for each week of the collection to keep on top of the sorting.

Anyone can leave items for the sale during the library's hours, which are 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays.

The book sale will begin at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, March 9 with a presale beginning at 7:30 a.m. There is a $20 entrance fee for the presale.

The bag sale continues 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, March 10 and from 9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. March 11 to 15.

In 1981, the Friends of the Library sold $1,500 worth of books at the sale. In 2010, the sale took in $24,000.