Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05

February 23, 2006 issue

Stock Your Shelves

Bibliophiles’ Bliss: Used Book Sale This Weekend

Story by Kathleen McFadden

By Tuesday morning, the Friends of the Watauga County Library were just about ready for this weekend’s giant used book sale at the Boone Mall, but sale organizer Lori Nicklin and helper Claire Olander were at the former Dollar Wi$e store at the Boone Mall to accept a last-minute donation. Purlear residents Jim and Stacey Ruszczyk delivered approximately 3,000 books from their storage unit—the stock they still had on hand from their purchase of the inventory of the Book Rack bookstore in Boone when it closed its doors.

When the Ruszczyks purchased the books, they were thinking in terms of opening their own bookstore, but “life changes,” Stacey said, and the couple decided to pursue another business. Over the past two years, they have sold a number of  volumes through Internet sales, but were ready to unload the balance, give up their storage unit and move on.

Nicklin was delighted to receive the bonus donation, consisting, the Ruszczyks said, of mostly fiction.

Nicklin estimates that this year’s sale includes at least 15,000 books. Aside from the few books that are specially priced, hardbacks are selling for $1, paperbacks for 50 cents and romances for 25 cents.

At last year’s big sale, the Friends raised $6,900, and at a buck or fifty cents a shot, that amount represents a lot of books. The money is used for reading programs, library furniture and software, special programs—in fact, any additional services or materials the library needs that its budget does not cover.

The Dollar Wi$s store location is one of the best in years. Not only is the space well lighted, but it is also spacious and will allow easier browsing. Nicklin said that the larger space allowed the Friends to set up more tables than last year.

The selection, as usual, is superb.

Children’s books are particularly abundant this year, ranging from “picture books for the little tots to books for teenagers,” Nicklin said. Olander added, “Any diet book that has ever been written, we’ve got it.” Nicklin also commented on the “quality of the hardback fiction” and the selection of biographies.

Transporting and setting up the books is a volunteer task the High Country Christian Home Schoolers perform for each sale. Jenny Lanier coordinated the students’ efforts this year. “We simply could not do the sale without them,” Nicklin said. She pointed out that most of the Friends are seniors who don’t have the physical strength to move heavy boxes of books from storage to the sale location. The kids handle that task and in return, the Friends set aside some of the sale proceeds to allow the home schoolers to order books for the library that they are particularly interested in.

The Friends also set aside one-third of the sale proceeds for the library’s western branch in Sugar Grove.

This year’s giant used book sale is this weekend, Friday and Saturday, February 24 and 25, from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. both days.

A members-only preview and sale for Friends of the Library is Thursday night from 6:00 to 9:00. (Insider tip: You can become a Friend at the door on the night of the preview for just $5 for individuals and $25 for families.)

Want To Go:

Dates: Friday and Saturday, February 24-25

Time: 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Location: Former Dollar Wi$e store, Boone Mall

What You’ll Find at the Library Book Sale
The Friends of the Library and the High Country Christian Home Schoolers have done a great job of categorizing and arranging the thousands of books available for purchase. In addition to this list of book categories, the offerings also include music cassettes and CDs, audio books, and movies on VHS and DVD. There’s something at the sale for everyone.

Art & Music

Business & Computer

Children’s

Classic Literature & Poetry

Cookbooks

Fiction

Foreign Language & Travel

History

Hobbies & Crafts

Marriage, Parenting & Childcare

Medical & Health

Mysteries

Philosophy, Politics & Social Issues

Plays & Theater

Psychology & Self-Help

Reference

Romance

Science & Nature

Science Fiction

Sports

Textbooks