NEWBERRY — The Friends of the Newberry County Library System are preparing for their annual used book sale, now in its 15th year. All the funds raised during the book sale will go toward the Friends, who in turn support the Newberry and Whitmire libraries.
“The Friends of the Library help in many different ways including helping Newberry First Steps and helping provide things for the library like computers and furniture,” said Sandra Oliver, president of the Friends of the Newberry County Library.
In the past, the sale has raised anywhere between $500 to $6,000.
The Friends have been accepting books since Oct. 26, and will continue to accept books until the Wednesday (Nov. 11) before the sale. Oliver estimates they have somewhere between 500 to 1,000 books at the present time.
“We have almost any type of book you want, or you could find. We have books from popular authors like John Grisham, James Patterson, Tom Clancy and Mary Alice Monroe,” she said.
Members of the community have been donating books throughout the past two weeks. According to Oliver during that time the Friends will be sorting the books.
They have been sorting the books by name and taking out popular authors (for their own sections). They will also have sections for non-fiction and southern fiction. There will also be other items for sale like DVDs and videos.
“I have donated about 20 books myself. My sister kept a box and brought it just for us and a teacher at my school gave me a trunk load,” Oliver said. “People are very generous to us.”
Every book at the sale is in good condition.
The sale will be N0v. 13 and Nov. 14 at the Hal Kohn Memorial Library in the meeting room. The sale will be held during the hours of operation of the library — 9:15 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and 9:15 a.m.to 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Hardback books will be $1 and paperback books are 50 cents.
“The Friends of the Library try to provide things that the library would normally not have, special things, like audio tapes, videos, large print books, computers and furniture. So things like this sale helps provide for that,” said Audrey Henry, long-time member of Friends of the Newberry County Library System.