By Tony Kukulich
The last two years were bumpy ones for the annual book sale run by the Friends of the Beaufort Library (FOL) for the benefit of the library.
The popular event, which is held in the pavilion at Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park, was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was nearly washed out in 2021 by torrential rains and unusually cold temperatures.
“Last year was rainy and cold,” said volunteer coordinator Lolita Watson. “We had some blue volunteers.”
This year, organizers are swinging for the fences as they look to put two years of bad luck behind them.
The three-day event returns to the waterfront park Friday, Nov. 4 and runs through Sunday, Nov. 6. The event will feature more than 25,000 books for sale in 42 genres.
“The books we’re bringing to the sale are really the best we get,” said Deb Chevas, co-chair of the FOL book sale. “They’re very clean, no broken spines. We really wanted to up the game on the quality of the books by filtering out those books that other nonprofits would be able to use. The books are going to be great.”
New genres included this year include parenting, teaching, writing and foreign language titles.
The five genres with the most titles this year, Chevas said, are cookbooks, mystery, general nonfiction, history, and rare and collectable books.
“There are 80 boxes of rare and collectible books and four boxes of signed books,” Chevas said.
Those 25,000 books come from donations to the FOL. The group receives more than 1,000 books a week. One recent donor offered 1,000 books at one time. According to Chevas, a donation that large is not all that unusual. She noted that many people have their own libraries, and those often find their way to the FOL.
Occasionally, when sorting through the donations Chevas will run across a book that she feels is a family heirloom. She recently found a book with an inscription from famed actor Katherine Hepburn and was able to locate the family Hepburn addressed. Despite the increased value of the book, Chevas returned the book to the family.
“I just felt that it was a family heirloom.” Chevas explained. “We do give those back when we see something that really should stay in the family. Knowing the community, we know that they value books. I thought that they’d like it back.”
The FOL book sale is an all-volunteer event, and 160 volunteers – a new record – have signed on to assist with the sale. Watson attributed some of the surge in volunteers to the use of sign-up links on social media platforms like Facebook.
“No way could we pull this annual book extravaganza off without our volunteers,” Watson said.
While the book sale is popular with county residents, Chevas said it’s also popular with boaters who are passing through the area. They’ll stop in and buy 10 or 15 books to keep them busy while they’re at sea.
“Even people who don’t live here have heard about the sale,” Chevas said.
Books are priced at $2 for a hardback book, $1 for a paperback and two children’s books for $1. Rare and collectable books are individually priced between $7 and $45. Major credit cards will be accepted for book purchases. With last year’s bad weather, the event raised about $15,000.
“This year, I’m hoping to kick butt,” Chevas said. “My personal goal is to raise $21,000.”
The book sale is the FOL’s biggest fundraising event of the year. All of the money raised is used to supplement the Beaufort Library’s budget.
“They provide the things that we don’t get through any other funding mechanism,” said Amanda Brewer Dickman, Beaufort County library director. “It’s also a community event that people look forward to every year. The funds support library programs that aren’t funded through our regular budget.”
Hours for the Friends of the Beaufort Library Book Sale are:
- Friday, Nov. 4 – 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Saturday, Nov. 5 – 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Sunday, Nov. 6 – 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Early bird hours are from 9 to 11 a.m., Friday for Friends of the Beaufort Library members only. Memberships can be purchased at the doors. The membership fee is $25 a household, and $15 for members of the military and students with a valid ID.
Pop-up book sales will occur around downtown Beaufort during the day Saturday and all books will be half price on Sunday.
For more information about the Friends of the Beaufort Library, visit: https://friendsofthebeaufortlibrary.givecloud.co/. For more information about the Beaufort County Library system, visit: https://www.beaufortcountylibrary.org/.
Want to Go?
What: Friends of the Beaufort Library Book Sale
When: Friday, Nov. 4 – 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 5 – 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday, Nov. 6 – 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Early bird hours are from 9 to 11 a.m., Friday for Friends of the Beaufort Library members only.
Where: Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park Pavillion.
Memberships: Friends of the Beaufort Library memberships can be purchased at the doors – membership fee is $25 a household, $15 for members of the military and students with a valid ID.
Pop-up sales: Pop-up book sales will occur around downtown Beaufort during the day Saturday and all books will be half price on Sunday.
More info: For more information about the Friends of the Beaufort Library, visit: https://friendsofthebeaufortlibrary.givecloud.co/. For more information about the Beaufort County Library system, visit: https://www.beaufortcountylibrary.org/.
Tony Kukulich is a recent transplant to the Lowcountry. A native of Wilmington, Del., he comes to The Island News from the San Francisco Bay Area where he spent seven years as a reporter and photographer for several publications. He can be reached at tony.theislandnews@gmail.com.
