Friends of the Library Giant Book Sale

Web posted on October 20, 2012

After much anticipation the annual Friends of the Library giant book sale is finally here. This year the sale is open on Friday October 19, 2012 to Sunday 21, 2012. The book sale is located on 251 Massey Road in the former 'Fast Forms' factory. This is the third year the Christie family has generously donated the use of the building.

Admission is free and there is plenty of parking. All of the neighbouring factories have agreed to provide their parking lots for book sale customers. The city has also granted permission to park along the side of the road on Imperial.

Greeting people at the Friends of the Library table is Janina Wright

This year's Friday turnout is no different then previous years'. The Early Bird paid admission time saw over 150 people attend. There is a steady flow of people through the entrance and by 7:00pm over 900 people came in.

Greeting people at the entrance is a team of cheerful volunteers who are handing out maps. This is a very helpful little piece of paper has a price list on the back and a map of where each category of book is. There are approximately 40 volunteers helping each day and are quite knowledgeable and ready to help. They can be spotted by their checkered aprons. Picture at right of Volunteers Heather (L) and Joanna (R)

With over 40,000 books received, matching last year's total, it took a team of dedicated volunteers 2 months to sort and organize all of the books, CD's, records, games, puzzles and other multimedia donated.


For those book lovers wondering, every year there are about one third of books and other multimedia that does not sell over the weekend. Many of these books are passed on to other charitable organizations, with the rest of the books being recycled.

Also this year on Saturday the Reader's Cafe will be open. For a nominal fee the Cafe will be offering refreshments of coffee, tea and juice, and snacks of baked goods. The Cafe offers a nice chance to sit down at one of several tables and take a moment to relax. The baked goods were donated by College Heights students. In addition to this seating area, there are also many strategically placed chairs in the middle isle.

This year the Friends of the Library hope to beat last year's $40,000 with a goal of $60,000. All the proceeds will go toward the new main library. Another way to support the Friends is with the purchase of an annual membership. So come on out, support a great local cause and pick up some great winter reading material!