Readers flock to Mercer Library book sale

By STEVE NEWMAN

[email protected]

Mercer - Readers took advantage of the opportunity to get good books for low prices Saturday at the Mercer Friends of the Library used book sale. According to Teresa Schmidt, the library director, the book sale is one of several pathways that are used by the Friends of the Library to fund special projects to improve the library for its patrons.

"The Friends of the Library provides money for the things that are not in our regular budget." Some examples of their work are furniture upgrades and the library's solar energy project.

Among the books for sale, Schmidt stated about half were turnover of older books within the library and about half were donated to the library. "Normally, we just do a summer book sale, but we had so many things in storage, and we needed to make some space, and National Library Week is a good chance to try and do that," stated Schmidt.

Saturday's proceedings featured a "bag sale" that allowed customers to purchase all the books they could fit into a bag for a low price. Avid readers were seen filling multiple bags with books for reading in volume and borrowing carts to take the books to their cars. One enterprising customer, Jane Zillmer of Mercer, filled bags with books to help decorate a den in a friend's home.

The library is very active in providing programs for the public. "Programs are the biggest thing we do nowadays," according to Schmidt. When she first came to the library nine years ago, there was not as much emphasis on events, but Schmidt stated that today "programming is one of the biggest things we do, and I enjoy it." Due to the changing nature of technology, consumers get information differently, and more and more libraries are offering more programs. "There's still a lot to be said for having a place to get together, and we try to provide that," she stated.