Reading enjoyment at the Rochester Library Book Sale

I spent last night and this morning working at the Friends of the Rochester Library book sale. I am a member of the Friends and the book sale is by far my favorite event. I get to see a lot of people I haven't seen in a long time, browse used books, and hang around the library. What could be better?

Last night was a Members Only preview night, essentially the only tangible benefit for belonging.  I was in charge of checking off Friends names from the list. Of course some had not renewed their membership and I was willing and able to help them with that!  Last night was busy, but since the sale was open to the public today, it slowed down enough for me to do a little shopping.

Chelsea had asked me to look for books for her third-grade class and I found several by some perennially popular authors; Beverly Cleary, Roald Dahl, etc. I also picked up a copy of Harriett the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh, a book that played a major role in my writing ambitions. Finally, I couldn't resist buying a couple of books for me: Little Bee by Chris Cleave and Fall On Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald. They  only cost a quarter each so I'm not out a lot of money if I don't like them.

When the sale closes tomorrow at four we will draw a Friend's member's name for a free Nook e-reader. It's somewhat ironic to give away an e-book reader at a used book sale, but the fact is that e-books are rapidly growing in popularity and many titles are available for free via booksonthego.org through the library. The role of the library itself is changing, but I hope that the idea of having books available for free, to everyone, never goes out of style. I'm not sure how long printed books will be around, but I do know as long as there are readers, there will be used books.