By Stephen Dafoe
Morinville – Shelves and tables in the library lobby are loaded with paperbacks, hard covers and magazines, once enjoyed titles all waiting to be read again. The Morinville Community Library officially kicked off its annual book sale Monday morning, one part of its celebration of Library Month.
“This is part of our fundraiser for the library,” said Library Manager Isabelle Cramp, adding the sale is particularly important because of its tie in to Library Month’s theme of connecting the communities. “We’ve emptied out our storage of all the books we’ve been collecting through donations or through culling our collection. There is a lot of interesting stuff on our shelves to be purchased.”
The library lobby has approximately 2,000 titles on display for people to buy with more being added each day. Magazines are priced at .25; paperbacks are .50 each; trade paperbacks and hard covers sell for $2 a book. Cramp said there are a couple shelves of new releases within the library, books that are priced higher than the rest of the book sale stock but well below the price of buying new.
Money collected during the sale, running until Nov. 3, help fund library programs, including the monthly family movie nights. Last Friday’s event drew more than 30 children and their parents for a movie and pizza afternoon.
In addition to funding existing programming, the book sale monies will help fund a new library initiative, an all-ages Lego club and a youth video club. Cramp said money for the program has been building through a penny drive being held at the library and Higher Grounds Espresso Bar. To date $220 has been collected at the local coffee shop, another $148.50 at the library itself.
“This money will definitely be going towards this as well as continuing to run our regular programs,” Cramp said.
But there is more to selling used books than raising extra revenue for library programs. Cramp said the sale of books throughout the year fills a need within the community, one the library is able to fill. “This is something we have been recognizing for a while,” Cramp said. “A lot of people come in looking to purchase books as well. For us to always have books available to be purchased is very important because it is another way for us to serve the community.”
Those wishing to assist the library in its fundraising efforts can drop off their donated books at the library during regular hours of operation.
Above: Library Manager Isabelle Cramp checks out some of the second-hand books available at the Morinville Community Library’s Annual Book Sale. – Stephen Dafoe Photo
