IMAGE GALLERY: Thousands of Books Fill Forbes Auditorium

It is time again for the Friends of the blockbuster Spring Book Sale. The Forbes Municipal Building Auditorium is bursting at the seams with over 15,000 volumes. Donations will continue to arrive throughout the sale and new stock will be put on the sale floor each day of the sale.

According to Eric Waite, Friends of the Westborough Public Library president, there will be about 10 to 12 categories of books, including Social Sciences, Mind and Body, Hobbies, Cookbooks, Children's, Young Adult and Graphic Novels, Biography and Autobiography, and Fiction. The cookbooks and nonfiction books are always favorites, he added.

Despite the huge number of books, Waite reassured that, “It will be well organized but not so much so that all the find of finding a needle in a haystack is lost.”

The books are donated by the community throughout the year, although collection stepped-up in earnest about a month ago. Advertising for donations via press releases, posters, the Library Facebook page, and by word of mouth proved a huge success as is evident by the nearly150 banana boxes (from ) full of books plus 40 or so grocery bags full of mass market paper backs. Volunteers, boy scouts, and Friends members have been busy hauling the books from the library where they have been collected and stored to the Forbes Building.

While members of the Friends committee work the sale, patrons will be free to roam and browse. “There will be  space for kids to sit on a rug and read or do puzzles while their parents shop,” said Dee Kohler, member of the Friends and a Library Trustee, “and classical music and jazz will play in the background  to create the right ambience.”

Proceeds from the sale will go directly to support programs and activities at the library. According to Maureen Ambrosino, Library Director, “The Friends purchase many of our museum passes, which provide discounted or free admission to museums all over Massachusetts. They also pay for special programs. Some of the recent ones included the How to Shop for Free coupon class, a workshop on job searching skills and many programs for children and families. In the last year, they've also purchased Nook e-readers that we're getting ready to loan to library cardholders, a water fountain that's been installed near the Children's Room, two laptop computers for staff use, and the license that allows movies to be shown in the library legally. They really do a lot for us, and their support allows the library to offer many programs and services that we wouldn't be able to otherwise.” 

As Waite explains it, “the feeling is that we are not only hosting a book sale but we are fomenting a nice place to come and spend a few hours, a place that becomes a temporary community for a few afternoons. Hopefully we'll have many, many patrons and they will block off a few hours to linger and sit on one of the chairs provided as the sun streams through the two story windows and browse the books.”

The Friends of the Westborough Public Library Book Sale will take place in the Forbes Municipal Building auditorium:

• Thursday, May 19, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. 
• Friday, May 20, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
• Saturday, May 21, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Sunday, May 22, 1 to 5 p.m.

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