Friends of the Library Fall Book Sale Earns $143, 264.64 in Sales
October 23, 2017 — The Friends of the Library Fall Book Sale Oct. 18-22 hit $143, 264.64 in sales of used paperbacks, hardbacks, CDs, DVDs, audiobooks and more.
The Friends hit some sales highs during the fall event including a near-record-high sales figure of $28,263.50 for the Friends Night Preview Sale. The sale ended on Sunday, Oct. 22, with sales of $8,209. That’s the highest amount for Bag Day, when a filled grocery bag of books and other items is either $1 or $5, and the highest sales total since the sale moved to the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds E*Plex in April 2016.
“The success of our book sales is a communitywide effort. From the donations we receive, to those who shop the sale, library staff, our Friends of the Library volunteers, and the businesses and organizations that sponsor the sale – Ozarks Technical Community College, IPA Educational Supply, National Audio Company, Pyramid Foods/Price Cutter, Missouri Neon Outdoor and Watkins Outdoor Advertising – all work in conjunction to make these events a success,” said Friends of the Library President Carol Grimes.
“We have about 450 volunteers and their work is amazing. I don’t know of another volunteer group that is this efficient and has this many dedicated members. They’re so well organized and have fine-tuned all of our procedures to make this level of success possible.”
Items in the Friends semi-annual sales are donated by the public, retail and online store closeouts; and weeded from library collections. Proceeds from the sales help pay for library programs, concerts, equipment purchases and building improvements in the Springfield-Greene County Library District.
The public can donate books and audiovisual for future Friends sales at any of the 10 library branches.
The Friends Spring Book Sale is April 25-29, 2018.