
By Colby Gable
The annual Friends of the Watauga County Library are presenting an array of literature in their annual Holiday Book Sale at the meeting room in the Watauga County Library. Members who sort donated books have been saving the best they’ve received throughout the year for this event. The sale begins on Thursday, November 21 and will continue through Saturday.
Membership Chair of Friends of the Watauga County Library, commented a little about the event, saying “For the avid readers on your Christmas list, there will be beautiful hardback fiction books in their original jackets as well as incredible nonfiction books, delicious cookbooks, and lots of children’s books to start them on their road to reading.”
There will also be gift baskets available containing popular books and other goodies, neatly and attractively packaged. Ranging in prices fro $5 to $15, these baskets are one of the key featured items at the Book Sale, and the Friends group warns to be sure to come early in order to have a chance to purchase your first choice because they tend to sell quickly.
Joan Hearn of Friends of the Library, talked a little about the behind the scenes, saying, “Our guesstimation will be around $1,500 total and it’s really a good selection, we have people working around the clock sorting them all. This community is really generous when it comes to donating to the library, and they donate the good stuff. We must have 50 to 60 volunteers. Everyone’s sort of doing their little jobs they enjoy and they stick with it. Some have been there years just doing what’s needed. There are things to do there for everybody.”
The Friends of the Library itself is a volunteer group that raises funds to support the library, including donating the proceeds from the book sale to directly to supporting Watauga County Library. Mrs. Hearn continued, ““We are so lucky to have the Watauga County Public Library. I think what I like most about it is the staff is fantastic as well as the programs that they put on. They can put these programs on because of friends of the library, as a State isn’t always generous with the money. We are essentially the fundraisers for the public library. We’re all volunteers, it’s non-profit, and all the money we raise goes to the library. We put on a lot of these special events particularly for the children, and get books the library can’t afford to buy.”
Joan also reminds everyone that there is always a little something for everyone to do at the library, for both adults and children.
“I think they have 600 to 700 people come in on an average every day because there’s always so much going on,” she said.
Some of these programs work towards promoting awareness of library resources, raise funds for special programming, and advocate on behalf of library interests, and support programs that serve the community and increases patronage. The Friends sponsor author visits, displays, and other special events in the Friends of the Library meeting room. In past years programs have included musical performances, speakers, visiting authors and Summer Reading programs for children.
* Guidelines for Book Donations
Acceptable Items
The Friends accepts the following clean, gently used, salable items:
- Books for adults, teens, and children
- Textbooks less than 5 years old
- Magazines less than 2 years old
- Computer Manuals less than 2 years old
- Audio Books on CD
- Movies on DVD
- Music on CD
- Puzzles and Games (all pieces included)
- Rare or Unique Topic Books
Unacceptable Items
The Friends does not accept:
- Books that are water-damaged, mildewed, warped, dirty, heavily marked/highlighted or that have torn/missing pages/covers
- Magazines more than 2 years old or that are water-damaged, mildewed, warped, or dirty
- Computer Manuals more than 2 years old
- Encyclopedias
- Cassette Tapes
- VHS Tapes
- Vinyl Records
Sale Schedule and Information:
Thursday, November 21st, 3PM-7PM
Friday, November 22nd, 9AM – 7 PM
Saturday, November 23rd, 9 AM- 3PM
Prices
Most hardcovers: $2 unless marked
New releases: $5
Coffee Table Books: Priced as marked
Paperbacks: .50 cents unless marked
Movies, music, and videos: $1
Children’s hardbacks: .50 cents
Children’s paperbacks: .25 cents
The Holiday Book Sale is one of the library’s biggest fundraisers, helping to fund the enriching programs offered by the Watauga County Library, such as “Boone Boo.” There are also in-house books sales that continually occur throughout the year at the library.
For more information about the Friends of the Library, visit its website by clicking here. If interested in other volunteer opportunities, click here.
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