This morning I overheard the television tell me, “This is joy.  And this is the box it comes in.”  Curiously I glanced at the screen and sure enough, a happy meal box smiled back at me.  Well, when McDonald’s becomes the universal purveyor of joy, society is in deep trouble.  I blocked the noxious image from my mind and re-created my own reality.  I witnessed real joy in the satisfied faces of the new, used-book owners as they carried boxes from cashier to car eager to take their box of joy home.  And this where it all began:

 Every September, Friends of the Arapahoe Library District hosts the annual used book sale at Koelbel library.  Organizers hope this year’s sale will be typical, meaning proceeds reach into the mid-five digits, approximately $40,000. Prices for books average $2.50, the small pocketbook size paperbacks go for fifty cents and special editions, old volumes, collections and premium books are individually priced. 

My assigned task?  Stock the book tables.  I was assigned the non-fiction and hardback fiction room.  Readers donated many, many political biographies which implies to me that my neighbors are politically-minded.  Registered voters in this community are about equally split between Dems and Reps.  Books authored by Bob Woodward seemed the most numerous (Plan of Attack, Bush at War, Shadow, The Agenda).  I tend to have a positive bias towards books written by journalists as they well written and well researched and thus are enjoyable to read and educate the reader.  When I choose books to donate, I select ones I’ll never read again, whose topics are boring or take up too much of my limited shelf space thus crowding out newer, shinier, more interesting books.  So, rather than hypothesize about my neighbors reading habits in conjunction with the proliferation of pre-owned Woodward books about former president George W. Bush versus the measly two or three copies of books about former president Bill Clinton; and, rather than compare the numbers of Hillary books  (few) versus Barbara books (more), I decided to group like books with like.  That way, everyone can freely associate their own provocative ideas and keep their opinions to themselves.  I figured, the sales speak for themselves.   

In the fiction section, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, competed with all of Amy Tan’s books.  For an Amy Tan afictionado, you could have picked up her whole collection for less than $20. In non-fiction, apolitical, Tuesdays with Morrie outnumbered books about Princess Diana.   

A never-ending supply of books replenished the tables.  Dollies full of books sorted by genre constantly replaced empties under the tables.  Books from the boxes were taken at random and used to plug in the spaces created by books sold.  Boxes were arranged under the table two rows deep.  I mean, just think about it – if the sale brings in $40,000 and most books sell for $2.50, that’s an incredibly large volume of books in inventory.

Speaking of inventory, there was a book reseller making the rounds during my shift.  As the woman culled the rows of books, systematically scanning ISBN bar codes with her phone checking Amazon.com used prices, she lamented that all her competitors seemed to have snagged all the good deals at the preview sale the night before.  As meager as she felt her findings were, she slid a big box in her wake, filled with all her “not so great” deals.  Interesting how some people earn their money.

There was a great variety of cookbooks, travel books, books about Colorado.  The history, politics, economics and business tables were just as crowded as the biography, sports and humor sections.  At times, crowds of shoppers blocked access and prevented me from re-stocking.  I knew it was a waiting game.  I stalked the aisles instead waiting for an opportunity.  Lunch time was definitely slower.  After three hours of working pretty much non-stop I took at water break and chatted with volunteer coordinator, Louise Richie.

All in all, Friends of Arapahoe Libraries contributes approximately $130k annually and this sale is a major fundraiser event.

Booklover that I am, I was so proud to end my shift and leave the sale empty handed. 

I returned on day two for pictures.  So engrossed was I in my task that I neglected to take the obligatory pictures.  And, that was when the shopping bug bit me.  Four books, a few pictures and two hours later, I retreated to my car.  I got out lucky.  Some people were filling up boxes with books for the bargain price of $6 a box.

And, as for my day one observations about political books and others?  Another volunteer must have seen the growing collection of Bob Woodward/Bush books and gave them their own box (or two) under the table.  Edgar Sawtelle books were now scattered helter skelter all over the hardback fiction table.  Amy Tan books, the collector’s opportunity had passed.  There were only a few copies of Bonesetter’s Daughter.  Now, that’s not to say that there weren’t more to be found in boxes yet to be stocked.

Curious that not one Deepak Chopra book was to be had.  Having written over 50 books, this author’s work was missing from the sale.  Why is it that people keep these books longer than others?  There’s some sort of sociology lesson to be learned through this experience.  Probably would make for great debate.