West Roxbury Library Book Sale Starts Today

Getting ready to catch up on book reading this summer is about to become a lot easier, now that the annual Used Book Sale sponsored by the Friends of the West Roxbury Branch Library starts today.

It begins today with a Friends Members-only preview (more on that later), with the regular sale running from June 4 through June 8.

“It’s going to be huge,” said sale organizer and Friends board member Anne Fleche. “There are thousands of books and CDs and DVDs, all set up in different sections. There’s one for children’s books, one just for romance novels, fiction is divided into various genres. There will be books on gardening, books on cooking. There’s a ton of stuff. It’s a little overwhelming.”

Everything at the sale can be considered a bargain. Though some brand new titles and certain collectibles may be priced for a few dollars, almost all paperbacks will go for $1.00, and hardcovers for $1.50. Books are spread out over numerous tables in the library’s sale room, and they go fast, which means the tables are constantly restocked. So every day it’s pretty much a different sale.

“The books are donated to the library,” explained Fleche. “People come in and leave them under the stairs, and throughout the year, there’s a continual process of sorting them, putting them up on shelves with genres listed on them, boxing the books, then labeling them, until it’s time to schlep the boxes across the library to the room where we have the sale.”

Money generated from the sale is used to initiate and/or support programming at the library, and to buy specific items that the library needs.

“The Friends have used book sale money to purchase book carts, books shelves, and a printer,” said Fleche. “And we pay for all of the programming, for instance whatever is needed for the knitting group, or the mah-jongg group or the chess club.”

Friends of the Library members get to attend the opening night festivities, which means they have first crack at the books, and they get to enjoy some wine and cheese. Anyone can come by and become a member on opening night ($5 for a one-year membership, $10 for a one-year family membership, $100 for a liftetime membership).

Fleche is not only the event organizer, she’s also a book lover. And she enjoys taking part as a buyer at the sale.

“A few years ago I bought ‘Silent Spring’ there, which I had never read, and it just blew my head off. I had loved ‘The Lord of the Rings’ as a child, but I didn’t have the books, and I found all three of them at the book sale. Then the movies came out, so it was perfect timing.”

The Annual Used Book Sale at the West Roxbury Branch Library starts with a Members-only preview on June 3 at 6 p.m. The sale then runs from June 4 through June 7, during regular library hours, and on June 8 until noon.