Friends of the Libraries sale starts Friday in Conway

CONWAY — Carolyn Baker, president of the Friends of the Faulkner County Libraries, said she was amazed at how many books were donated for last year’s sale.

This year, there are more.

“We literally have a storage building overflowing with books; people have been very generous with donating to us this year, and we appreciate that,” she said.

The twice-a-year sale is scheduled at the Conway library, 1900 Tyler St., from 6-8:30 p.m. Friday for Friends of the Faulkner County Libraries, and $5 memberships per individual are available at the door. The sale will be open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from 1-5 p.m. April 8.

Baker said the sale has two new aspects. For one, books will be weighed this year.

“It’s all 50 cents a pound, which I have to tell you is the best bargain in Faulkner County,” she said. DVDs and CDs will be 25 cents each.

Also, the sale will continue into Sunday. “In the past, we’ve closed it on Saturday,” she said.

The books represent all genres, she said, and there can be treasures among them.

“There are lots and lots of kids’ books. Last time, we had an entire set of Harry Potter, book covers still on, in excellent condition,” she said. “Somebody got eight or nine first-edition Nancy Drews.”

Another category is cookbooks.

“If you like church cookbooks, and I know a lot of people who do, we’ve got lots of church cookbooks,” she said. “If you’re interested in travel, we have quite a few travel books. If you just like fiction, we have lots and lots and lots of those.”

Despite the advent of e-books, Baker said, some people love the printed word.

“Lots of people I know much prefer holding a book, turning a page, rather than looking at it on a screen,” she said.

Baker said volunteers make the sale happen, and she gave credit to former volunteers Pat Ross and Betty Courtway, who died in February 2016.

“They led that sale for 12 years,” Baker said.

“It’s a lot of hard work,” she said. “To do that twice a year for 12 years is just wonderful. But this is how the Friends make the majority of their money. We use it to support library programs, like the summer-reading program; we are a sponsor for ComiConway; we also contribute to different literacy projects in Faulkner County and in central Arkansas. We support the urban garden behind the library. We use [the money] to help them get things they couldn’t get otherwise.”

For example, she said, the Friends of the Library bought new play furniture for the children’s area at the Conway branch.

John McGraw, director of the Faulkner County Library, said the Friends group purchased “a beautiful cart with a cooktop and a sink and mirrors so people can have an overhead view” during cooking classes.

“We can take it outside of the program room. When the garden is producing stuff, we will have a cart of fresh-picked stuff and flowers,” he said. “We can be cooking food right next to the cart with the free stuff on it. Ideally, we can take it to [library] branches and to the farmers market sometimes.”

The kitchen cart was cost-prohibitive for the library, but the Friends group stepped up.

“When we have an impossible thing we want to do, they’re the ones who say, ‘We can make that happen,’” McGraw said.

Baker said she’s hoping for a lot of shoppers to buy the stacks of books that will be available at the sale.

“Come browse and look; then come back the next day,” Baker said with a laugh.

Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.

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