LUCY BURDETTE: You know how devoted I am to the Friends of the Key West Library--in fact it turns out our first book sale is this weekend. It also turns out that our friend Ellen Byron feels the same way about her California library. I'll let her tell it...
ELLEN BYRON: On the last Saturday of every month, this sign goes up outside my local library branch in Studio City, and I do a happy dance.
When you’re a passionate reader like I am and a collector of a specific genre— in my case, the vintage cookbooks that inspired my Vintage Cookbook Mystery series—there are few things in life more thrilling than the vast array of affordably priced books available at a Friends of the Library book sales. I make sure to hit the ones hosted at New Orleans’ Milton Latter Library whenever I’m in town. And every month I’m available, I show up to the sale at our local branch of the famed Los Angeles Public Library system.
As a regular patron, I’ve established a pattern. First, of course, I check out the Cookbooks section, where I’ve scored some incredible finds, all for the incredibly low price of a dollar for hardcovers and fifty cents for paperbacks.
My favorite find is a 1928 edition of Photoplay’s Cook Book [sic] of the Stars. Film fans know that 1928 was a pivotal year in the industry, marking the transition from silent movies to talkies. This is reflected in the cookbook itself, featuring recipes from silent stars to those who survived the seminal change like Greta Garbo and Gary Cooper. (BTW, the odds of the stars actually supplying the recipe are minimal. I’m sure they were “cooked” up by studio publicists.)
Once I’ve thoroughly perused cookbooks, I move on to the mysteries section, which the Friends of the Studio City Library separate into two categories, Paperback Mysteries and Mysteries and Suspense, which are hardcovers. I love searching for my friends’ books, which I photograph, buy, and mail to them.
After working my way through the mysteries, I travel to the travel section (see what I did there, wink wink?), after which I scope out Crafts. I’m an avid needlepointer and have found great needlework books at the sale. I also check out Nonfiction and the special section where items are incrementally more expensive.
Here’s my haul from this past Saturday’s sale: A 1949 cookbook I’ll keep for myself, plus two or three to use as giveaways (I’m on the fence about the Paris Café cookbook. It’s so cool!) There’s a hiking guide I picked up in the Travel section and a collection of walks in Paris from the Special Section that set me back a whopping two dollars.
Over the years, I’ve befriended many of the volunteers, making the monthly event even more special. I’m incredibly grateful to them for their commitment to the sale and to our library branch. So grateful, in fact, that this is the dedication in Crescent City Christmas Chaos, my fourth Vintage Cookbook Mystery:
Readers, do you have a Friends of the Library sale in your neighborhood and do you occasionally pay it a visit? Comment to be entered in a giveaway for a Kindle edition of Crescent City Christmas Chaos.
SYNOPSIS:
Have yourself a merry little . . . murder?
Ricki James-Diaz gets the best present ever when her parents arrive in New Orleans for the holidays. Not only is it a chance to catch up, it’s also an opportunity to jog her mom Josepha’s memory about Ricki’s adoption. The details have always been shrouded in mystery. And Ricki understands why when she learns her mother was blackmailed for years, simply for not wanting to lose her precious daughter.
But digging into the past soon lands the James-Diaz clan in water hotter than a big pot of gumbo! When the woman who extorted Ricki’s mom is found dead at her home, Josepha becomes the primary suspect. Now Ricki has another murder to solve, and tracking down a killer in Crescent City is going to take a miracle.
Luckily, ‘tis the season! And Ricki has all the staff at the Bon Vee Culinary House Museum on hand to help. Can she prove her mother’s innocence and have the case wrapped up in time for Christmas?
ORDER NOW:
Crescent City Christmas Chaos a book by Ellen Byron - Bookshop.org US
BIO:
Ellen is a bestselling author, Anthony nominee, and recipient of multiple Agatha and Lefty awards for her Cajun Country Mysteries, Vintage Cookbook Mysteries, Catering Hall Mysteries (as Maria DiRico), and Golden Motel Mysteries. She is also an award-winning playwright and non-award-winning writer of TV hits like Wings, Just Shoot Me, and Fairly OddParents, but considers her most impressive achievement working as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart. Visit her at http://www.ellenbyron.com/.
Our local library occasionally puts books out for sale, but nothing like the huge effort Ellen has described. Still, I do look and I do buy books when I can . . . .
ReplyDeleteThe English-American Library here in Nice had a big sale in October that I missed. But there’s always a section of paperbacks for sale for €1 and cookbooks, too.
ReplyDeleteLike Ellen I have favorite libraries. Right over the state line is the Fryeburg Maine Public Library. It's an old stone school with huge character. MaryAnn Eastman and her group create fun evens. When I'm out doing bookie things and picking up bling, I always bring some home to them. Oh, and Ellen I borrowed your shilling word.
ReplyDeleteThe Rochester (MN) Public Library has periodic Friends of the Library sales and it also has a bookstore with regular hours right at the library. I donated a lot of books there over the years and purchased some as well.
ReplyDeleteThe closest branch of the Marion County Public Library to me here in Ocala had a tiny space for the Friends to sell books just inside the entrance. It is currently undergoing a building expansion that is going to more than double the overall space and the Friends’ bookstore will have an entire room. The name of my branch is Freedom Library which I just love.
Great book haul, Ellen, and congratulations on the new book! I love that series. The Friends of the Library in my town have a bookstore open in the library's basement whenever the library is open, and I frequently pop down there to browse. The prices are similar to those at your monthly sales.
ReplyDeleteNice book haul. I'm still new to the area, so haven't seen any notices thus far.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the Christmas book, Ellen! I just may need a dose of New Orleans--murder and all--to get me in the Christmas spirit. Our local library is part of a two-library system (ours and the next town down the road). The Friends of the Library group has a room in the basement of the other library that is periodically open for sales, once a quarter, I think. Both libraries have a kiosk with books for sale. Ours does extremely well--we restock it regularly and the Friends' president is always happy when she empties the money box.
ReplyDeleteHi Ellen,
ReplyDeleteI am a reader of your books. I particularly liked the plantation series and the way you concluded it. I have also enjoyed your author on line interviews.
I work in a library and we have a big book sale about once a year and an ongoing one in our lobby.
Our patrons are very generous with their donations to the extent that our deposit bins for them are very often overflowing and we have to stop until the volunteers who handle them are able to process everything that has come in. In addition to books, we frequently receive CDs and even LP records. These are very popular among serious music collectors since the LP recordings are often rare, vintage performances
We also receive many reviewers’ copies of books which means they are essentially brand new.
This time of year is even more popular because people are looking for gift possibilities and we usually have some specials set aside for the holidays. They may include things like multi volume sets
or subjects that are of particular interest (such as cookbooks)
Children’s books are always in high demand
I am so pleased to see library book sales getting so much love! Here's another perspective on them. I have had the pleasure of working at the Friends of Worthington Libraries Book Sale many times. It is a well-established longtime success, generating close to $30,000 for the library annually. That is only possible because of a group of very hardworking volunteers who I love and admire.
ReplyDeleteThis sale has become such a big thing that it truly has a life of its own. Of course, it is used to sell books that the library has culled from its permanent collection, but like many other libraries it also accepts donated books. SO MANY donated books! The sale is held quarterly, and there is a small room (oversized closet, really -- maybe the size of the average laundry room?) dedicated to holding the donated books. It becomes full to overflowing! So much so, indeed, that they also have a permanent ongoing Friends Book Sale area in the entry area to the library to help move a little inventory in between the big sales. Occasionally the volume of books grows so quickly that we run a one day "pop-up" sale just to clear some out.
A cadre of dedicated, hardworking volunteers manages the inflow of those donated books every week, sorting them into boxes by genre. Then at the quarterly sales, volunteers set up tables in the largest meeting room at the library and those boxes of books, sorted by genre, get carried in there by volunteers. (This is a bit of a problem, sometimes, as those volunteers aren't getting any younger!)
The first evening of the sale (Thursday)is open to Friends of the Library only. But many book collectors have become aware of the amazing deals to be had and paid the small fee for a Friends membership in order to be able to shop on that first night. It is absolute mayhem and, if I'm honest, the one shift of the sale that I prefer not to work unless I'm really needed. That first, Friends Only portion brings in a large part of the revenue for the entire sale.
After that, the sale runs all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I mainly work those, and it is just as delightful from the checkout side as it is from the patron's side. Everyone is in a good mood at a book sale, and always in awe at the bargains they are finding. They are very patient as we add up their purchase in our heads and double check each other's math. MANY buyers choose to round up their purchase to whatever size bill they are handing us. (We never suggest it -- they just do it.) Then the librarians step in and determine whether any of the remaining books are just not marketable and those are shipped to a recycling company, while any good inventory is returned to the storeroom. The tables are put away and the room returned to its meeting room set up.
Our library has an ongoing book sale in the lobby of the building. I try hard to stay away from it, just as I try really hard not to go to dog adoption events. I want to come home with all of them!
ReplyDeleteDebRo