Shoppers look over choices at one of six days of sales this month, all sponsored by the Friends of the Cherry Hill Public Library.
The Friends of the Cherry Hill Public Library recently hosted six days of book sales that began on July 7 and raised funds for the facility.
The Friends also supports the library – and itself – through donations, volunteer services and memberships. But the largest fundraisers are the library’s annual book sales.
Tierney Miller is the library director.
“We’re really appreciative of the Friends of the Library,” she said. “There’s so many great volunteers that we have … It (the sale) is really a joint effort. The volunteers from the Friends do all the sorting all year long, so that we can have these sales, and then they do so much work to help the sale get off the ground in conjunction with the staff.”
The book sales are held three times a year, one each in spring, summer and fall. Most items for the July sales were donations collected by the Friends, though some of the titles were among those removed from circulation, usually because there are more copies than necessary.
The Friends collects and sorts donations of books, audiobooks, CDs and DVDs that are set up for shoppers on the lower level of the library. Friends’ members got early access to the July sales on the first two days.
“The sale is going wonderfully,” noted Marlyn Calitan, president of the Friends of the Library, “and we really appreciate the township putting their effort behind it and coming out and buying our books.”
Books for adults from all genres – fiction, cookbooks and nonfiction, among others – were set up in the conference center, CDs and DVDs were on the lower level and children’s books were placed in the Joyce Alexander Walker Multicultural Room.
“The materials are a really, really diverse array of things,” Miller pointed out. “We have tons of music CDs … everything from ’80s pop to classical music to modern, newer things. And the books, just all night, I’ve seen people coming up with brand new hardcovers, and then a book that might be decades old.”
Library staff and volunteers from the Friends worked the sale, helping customers by holding large piles of books at the checkout table, counting the items and assisting them with loading shopping bag books. While donations had been collected throughout the year, they continued to arrive at the library during the sale.
Rob Schumacher is a member of the Friends and one of the volunteers who worked the sale.
“Once that book sale sign goes out in front,” he said, “cars just pull up in the back with more donations of books. We appreciate that as well.”
The next book sale will be held from Nov. 11 through Nov. 16.
