Books to be sold for low prices

The Friends of the Library Bookstore at the Monroe County Public Library will have a book sale Friday through Monday, with books available for as low as 50 cents on Friday and 25 cents on Saturday.

“We get a wonderful cross-section of Bloomington,” bookstore manager Faye Mark said. “People that love to read are from every socioeconomic group, and this is a very affordable way to keep the books in the community.”

The bookstore takes donations of paperback and hardback books, as well as CDs, movies and even vinyl records, any time the library is open. The Friends of the Library Bookstore is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays, from noon to 7 p.m. Thursdays and from noon to 5 p.m. Saturdays.

But when the store needs to clear out some space, Mark said, it’s time for a sale.

“We get a lot of donations that don’t sell at the book store, so twice a year we have clearance sales,” she said. “I think people that love books – especially old books – you can find things that you wouldn’t find at a bookstore, and a lot of them are no longer in print.”

When the sale opens Friday, books will be available for 50 cents to $1, but the books will get cheaper all weekend. On Saturday, books will be 25 to 50 cents each, while Sunday will be “bag day,” when, Mark said, “you can just take whatever you can fit in the bag” for $3.

On the last day of the sale, Monday, books will be available for free, though Mark warned the “good ones” will probably have been sold already.

One book that will almost certainly be sold is one of the treasures Mark occasionally uncovers – a first-edition copy of Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.”

“We have a special rack where things cost more,” Mark said, “and that one won’t be going for $2.”