NORTHVILLE - Book lovers found their pot of gold Saturday - at the annual Fourth of July Book Sale at the Northville Public Library.
The summertime book sale is a fundraising highpoint for the library. In 2009, for example, the booksale netted the library over $3,500, according to its newsletter. The sale also is a part of a regular event in Northville: family-centered activities marking an extended Fourth of July treat known as the "Doin's" festival.
From a parade at 1 p.m. on Saturday to retail sales throughout the village to children and adults licking ice cream cones, the weather held out for the summer fun.
Article Photos
At the Northville Public Library’s book sale on Saturday, Larry Cramer pays for his purchases as his granddaughter Mackenzie Odell looks on. Library volunteer Jan Erickson, left, staffs the checkout table.
(The Leader-Herald/Lisa Connell)
At the library, on Third Street, there was no question as to what book lover Joan Crean was up to. Crean regularly volunteers here. As visitors to the library's sale pored over the tables stocked end to end with books, Crean organized and reorganized the fiction and non-fiction collection, magazines and more. She moved quickly through the tables, skillfully merchandising books for sale in case the flash of a title might lure a purchaser. She continued to shuffle piles of books, working as she spoke with a visitor.
"Any special requests, any special author or particular book, while I'm sorting there's no reason why I can't keep an eye out," Crean said about a book someone might be searching for.
And, the library's additional, ongoing book sale throughout the year offers bargains in hard cover and paperbacks, said the longtime Edinburg resident.
In spite of computers and electronic gadgets that could preoccupy their minds, eyes and hands, are kids still reading books?
"Very much so," she answered. "Kids are definitely still reading."
Reading because, Crean explained, of the number of excellent authors writing for teens and "tweens," plus the parents who keep young children interested in the printed word.
For $2, engineer Rich Phillips walked away with a heavy bargain. The plastic white bag stretched to accommodate the weight of his afternoon find - text books.
If he and his wife, Kirsten, had begun their day with a car ride, a trip to the library would have been a sure stop.
"My wife always knows where all the book sales are," he said.
Phillips, of Perth, said he prefers to read non-fiction books. An engineer, he said some of the engineering and science textbooks of previous decades remain valuable because the trade's core principles remain the same. Computer books, by contrast, he explained, quickly become outdated.
As he walked through the parking lot with his collection, Kirsten Phillips looked through another book assortment. She said she prefers fiction and children's books, particularly because she is a nanny.
"I'll always have a book in my hand. I don't have a Kindle," she said. "It's relaxation and getting out of yourself instead of putting on that darn TV."
Mackenzie Odell, 12, stood next to her grandfather, Larry Cramer, as he straightened several one dollar bills for book sale cashier Jan Erickson.
Erickson will spend her waterfront summer in Edinburg, many miles away from her Fort Myers, Fla., home.
Mackenzie, a 12-year-old Cazenovia resident will now have a fresh supply of reading material during her visit.
Lisa Connell can be reached at gloversville@leaderherald.com.