Friends of the Library Spring Book Sale Hits $148,356.70
May 6, 2019 — Traditional books don’t appear to be going out of style, based on the success of the Friends of the Springfield-Greene County Library District Spring Book Sale, which ran May 1-5 at the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds E*Plex.
The event took in $148,356.70 in sales of mostly used books, along with DVDs, CDs, audiobooks, vinyl records, games and puzzles. Friends President Bill Kastler said it was the second-highest sales event since the first Friends sale in 1985. The record-high sale was only six months ago during the fall 2018, which grossed $154,300.20.
The sale got off to a stormy start with the three-hour Friends Night Preview Sale Tuesday, April 30, amid driving rain and tornado warnings. But that night’s sale still hit $29,072.70, just shy of a Preview Sale record. The Friends also hit several record-sales nights through the week.
After expenses, the Friends use proceeds to fund new services and programs across the 10-branch library district. Most recently, the Friends paid for most of the 24-hour library kiosk, the Library Express West, serving west Springfield; the April visit by “Circe” best-selling author Madeline Miller; and spring concerts.