A Book Bonanza Sale at West Roxbury Library

If summer is when you catch up on your reading, the used book sale is the place to stock up on your reading material.

Running from June 4 (for a Friends-only preview and reception) through June 9, the 34th annual sale will feature thousands of hardcovers (starting at $1.50) and paperbacks (starting at $1), along with a variety of CDs, DVDs, and recorded books.

“It’s the biggest Friends' fundraiser of the year,” said Linda Ozier, who worked as a volunteer at the event for the past 15 years, and now oversees it as a co-chair with Susan Powers. “Proceeds from the sale provide funding for all of the programs we support at the library. We also set aside part of our budget to buy things for the library. Last year we purchased some new book carts that they needed. If there’s something the library needs that isn’t part of its budget, then if we can pay for it, we do.”

Ozier pointed out that the sale began as a single-day event that took place outside the , and was at one time part of the local Sidewalk Sale Days. When that practice stopped, the sale moved inside and was expanded to multiple days.

Actually it goes on year round.

“People donate books all the time,” said Ozier. “They leave bags and boxes of them under the stairs, near the entrance. There’s a small dedicated group of volunteers who regularly take those books back into another room, and sort them by category, then pack them up and store them in a large closet.”

Among the folks involved in that part of the process are Jan Crosby, who helps sort; Beverly Smith, who Ozier referred to as “our well organized box filler”; and Keith Davison, an “expert closet stuffer.”

Ozier mentioned there a couple of different approaches to buying books at the sale.

“Monday night, which is for Friends members only, is the preview night,” she said. “That’s obviously when the biggest supply of books is available. That’s the night to get the best pickings. And Saturday is when the books are the cheapest. Last year, to move more books, on the last day you could buy a bag of books for $5.”

She also mentioned that there’s always a need for volunteers to help during the sale. For information on that, or how to join the Friends, drop her a line at lindaozier@yahoo.com.

Ozier admitted that, aside from co-chairing the sale, she and her husband have also been shoppers at it.

“I’ve picked up a few books in the past,” she said. “And my husband bought a bagful for his airplane reading.

So what’s she reading right now? “Wherever You Go, There You Are.”

The 34th annual used book sale takes place at the West Roxbury Branch Library from June 4-10. For hours and information, visit www.friendsofthewrlibrary.org.