Union County Public Library Prepares for Annual Summer Book Sale This Week

July 16—LEWISBURG — This week, about 20,000 used books and DVDs are for sale at the Union County Public Library.

The book sale starts at 9 a.m. Wednesday at Faith Lutheran Church, 2349 Old Turnpike Road (Route 45), Lewisburg, and runs through Saturday. Library staff and volunteers, as well as AmeriCorps members, gathered at the church Monday to organize more than 20,000 used items.

“We’ve had so many donations that we’ve had to put some in a barn to prepare for the fall book sale,” said Toni Novosel, the library’s coordinator. “If you’re looking for popular authors or genres, get here early Wednesday. It’s going to be really good. We’re hoping to be close to selling out.”

The goal is to raise $21,000 for new items to add to the library’s collection, Novosel said.

“We have a lot more items this year than we did last year, so the volunteers will be giving out more as the sale progresses,” said Library Director Toby Schwartzman. “The AmeriCorps volunteers were a huge help again this year, we couldn’t do the move without them. They are huge supporters of this event. The Summer Book Sale is one of our biggest fundraisers of the year. The county and state funds we receive only cover a third of our operating budget. We are very grateful for that support, but events like this are also necessary to keep the library running.”

A bag of books costs $25. The bags are provided and for the second time this year, credit cards and tap-to-pay are available.

There are thirty-two genres of books available: large print, westerns, gift books, history, music, travel, foreign language, how-to, science fiction/fantasy, young adult, children’s, vintage, audiobooks, science/nature/pets, gardening, health/fitness, sports/games, nonfiction, biography, self-help, religious fiction, mystery/thriller, romance, fiction, philosophy, religion, cookbooks, crafts/holiday, pop culture, art/antiques, reference, and textbooks. A selection of DVDs will also be available.

Joe Reber, of Mifflinburg, has been a library volunteer for 20 years. He said he loves to read.

“I like to help,” he said. “I’ve volunteered for the Red Cross for 10 years. I’ve been all over the U.S. and volunteered at Sunbury Hospital.”

Brenda Adams of Lewisburg is an avid reader and says she regularly volunteers at the library.

“I like looking at the books and seeing what other people have read,” Adams said. “I like being able to support the library.”

Book sale hours are 9am-5pm on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and 9am-12pm on Saturday. Saturday price is $10 to fill a bag.

The fall book sale will be held Nov. 13-16 at the library at 255 Reitz Blvd., Lewisburg, Novosel said.