Open House Demonstrates the Success of Monthly Book Sales

Friends of the Dexter Library book sale chair, Cortney Ophoff, recently held two book room open houses at the library. During the open houses, Cortney described, to interested volunteers, the process of book sorting that takes place six days a week in order to prepare for the used book sales.

Cortney explained that it’s very common for the library staff to collect four large carts of donated books every day. Given the tremendous amount of book donations, it’s necessary to keep up with the sorting process on a daily basis with help from six volunteers, which include herself.

The process begins by initially sorting an assortment of books into different piles such as fiction and non-fiction. From there the books are sorted even more by what categories they fall under such as children’s books, classics, seasonal, gift books, self-help, financial, biographies, etc.

Fiction books are sorted further alphabetically by author, non-fiction by genre, and biographies alphabetically by subject. Cortney explained the more organized the books are, the easier it is for people to find and purchase them.
Quite often books are considered vintage or classic. While there is a consignment dealer who sells some of the books for the friends, the books that may only be worth $10 to $20 are kept on the shelf and sold for only $2. “Even though we might have received more for that book, I really get excited about vintage and classic books and I get a sense of satisfaction when someone is delighted with their bargain and walks out the door happy,” says Cortney. She also knows that person will return to future sales.

Some books may also be deemed unsellable. Those books may have pages missing, scribbling throughout and even mold. Some of these simply need to be discarded, however, there is a volunteer who will take most of those books to see what can be salvaged.

There is also a process of marking the books with stickers that indicate if a book has been on the shelf for more than three months. Those books are often donated to the VA hospital, and The House by the Side of the Road, a charitable organization. Many children’s books are set aside and donated to Mitchell school in Ann Arbor for under privileged children who often have no books of their own.

Cortney is always looking for more volunteers. If you are interested, she will work one-on-one with you until you are comfortable working alone or with others. Most sorters only need to work about one hour at a time when they come on their assigned day. Please contact Cortney at cortney@theophoffs.com if you’d like to be a part of the sorting process.

With all the generous donations from the community, book contributions continue to pour in. The money from the sales directly support the library and fulfill the director’s wish list which is not part of the library’s budget. Please keep bringing in your unwanted yet sellable books. Additionally, if you have sturdy boxes, the friends are always in need of those.

The Friends next used book sale is Saturday, May 2, from 9 am to 3 pm, and the Friends next meeting is April 28 at 7 pm at the library. Everyone is welcome.