Supporting the library

Yesterday was the annual Friends of the Library book sale, and I’m proud to say that I did my civic duty to support literacy in our community by buying $300 worth of books.

 

The day started, as usual, by getting in line around 7 a.m. to get a number that would allow us in the door at 10 a.m.  The volunteers started handing out numbers at 8:30, and by 8:35, with numbers 9 and 10 in hand, Ella and I were headed toward the local Chick-fil-A for our annual pre-book sale breakfast.

 

By the time we got back to the sale, volunteers had split the line in two, with numbers 1 through 46 on one side, and the rest of the dealers, I mean avid book fans, on the other.  With Ella pushing her grocery cart, and me pulling my rolling crate, we casually strolled past the volunteer directing us toward the No. 47+ line, flashed our numbers, and took our rightful place near the front.

Here's what $300 buys at a book sale

 

Promptly at 10 a.m., the volunteers opened the doors, and the race was on.

 

If you haven’t been to a book sale before, visualize Black Friday at Wal-Mart, or, better yet, a gigantic Easter egg hunt, with the parents pushing the kids out of the way to find the egg with the best prize.  Thankfully, no one was trampled that I noticed.

I made a beeline to the religion section, and Ella headed toward the media by way of the collectible books.  Typically, I started out slow, not finding much, then almost panicking, before settling in for the long haul, and eventually filling both my rolling crate, a separate box, and part of Ella’s grocery cart.

 

Ella was busy, too.  She found multiple DVD boxed sets, and 42 Walt Disney Super 8 color movie reels in original boxes, including Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby, Black Hole, and several Bambi films, all of which are selling for $10+ each on Ebay.

I hope these Super 8 movies sell well on Ebay because I sure can't watch them

Around 12:30 p.m., we were ready to leave.  Ella, who I can always count on to be more organized than me, had the great idea to count our items before reaching the cashier.  So, we itemized our purchases on a piece of paper, and handed it to the cashier, who accepted our tally after consulting with the head book sale lady. 

 

As much as I love big book sales, I’m always glad when I’m done.  My Fitbit said that I walked about 6000 steps in the 2.5 hours that we were there, and by the time we were done for the day, including going to a couple of yard sales; meeting with a buyer from Facebook and selling two bikes; and working briefly in our antique booth, I had hit 12,000 steps (6.6 miles).  We were tuckered out.

 

Ella, being the industrious sort, is out again today, hitting several sales, while I went back to my day job to get some rest. We are both back out tomorrow to multiple church, charity, and neighborhood sales.  

 

I really need a warehouse.

 

Have a productive weekend, everyone.