First Ever Friends Garage Sale a Huge Success
The first ever Friends of the Library garage sale was a huge success. The Friends sold an estimated 16,000 books, DVDs, CDs, and other items. The community turned out in huge numbers with many people taking advantage of the "bag sale" pricing.
The sale was held in the "Friends Room" and Library parking garage on June 26-27. The turnout was so strong that the sale was extended an additional two days. Shoppers showed up June 28-29, in the afternoon and evening, to search for "hidden gems" that had gone overlooked in the weekend sale.
Shoppers loved that all items were priced 25 or 50 cents. Friends Room books were 50% off the normal sale prices. People especially loved that a Friends bag could be purchased for $1 and filled with any items for just $5 more. People went home with bags absolutely stuffed with movies, children's books, beach reads, or whatever else caught their fancy.
Attendance at the sale exceeded all expectations. The line in the parking garage at 10:00 on Saturday morning was so long that it began to wrap around the garage. Many people commented on how great it was that the Friends was having book sales again. Sales had been on hold for over a year. Since the Library is not yet open for in-person events, the garage sale format allowed hundreds of people to participate while shopping conveniently outdoors.
The garage sale accomplished many things for the Friends. The first is that the Friends raised thousands of dollars that will go directly to support Library programs and initiatives. The second is that the Friends was able to sell-off much of its existing inventory. This has allowed much needed cleaning and reorganizing of the Friends Room to already begin in preparation for the Friends once again accepting donations later this year. Sign up for the Friends newsletter and watch your inbox for announcements about future sales and information about when donations will be accepted.
Thanks to everyone for coming to the sale and supporting the Friends!
For an additional perspective on the book sale, we encourage you to read the great write-up in the Daily Herald written by Diane Turner-Hurns: