Bruce Klores made his way through the tables at the Rye Free Reading Room’s annual book sale, explaining that his grandson’s Yiayia (Greek for grandmother) was looking for books with him.
Together they were hunting for books about a new baby, as Klores’ daughter was at that very moment at the hospital in labor.
Klores was one of hundreds of patrons who poured onto the Village Green and into the library building recently to find books that sold for $1 to $10 at the library’s annual event.
London Gray, 11, a volunteer who attends Resurrection School, moved through the tables asking, “What are you looking for? I can help.” Along with her classmate Maria Caruso, Gray was one of several volunteers helping people find books they might be interested in. London and Caruso guided attendees to the popular “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series, the “Mercy Watson” series, and the “Dork Diaries” books.
Leaving the book sale, local resident Ruth Trumino showed off the popular John Grisham books she had been able to buy. And then, her prize: A travel guide to Prague. It was a sign. She said, “This encourages me to make a plan.”
“We love seeing the community shop together and celebrate a lifelong love of reading,” said Library Director Chris Shoemaker, who estimated that this year’s sale pulled in just over $17,000 — more than projected — for the library. He called the event “a wonderful weekend” filled with sunshine that exceeded all expectations. From the Friday night preview, open to Friends of the Rye Free Reading Room, to Sunday morning, when there were “no more bags under the tables to restock,” people swarmed the library looking for volumes to take home.
Catherine Riedel, assistant director of the Rye Free Reading Room, noted the community’s appetite for books.
“This is much anticipated,” she said. “People save their books for the sale.”
And the Rye Free Reading Room is happy to be the middleman. During the COVID pandemic, the community was searching for safe ways to come together. The book sale, held outside on the green, had been dormant for over a decade, but was reborn in the fall of 2021.
Shoemaker credits the nearly 45 members of The Rye Free Reading Room Auxiliary Board for making the book sale possible. The three co-chairs — Deniz Plimpton, Kristen Nicolson, and Meg Fabian — said it’s a team effort that requires heavy lifting. Literally.
With donors limited to five bags of books per person, volunteers have to collect, hoist, and sort the donations to get ready for the event. Plimpton said the Rye Moms Facebook group is an important way to get the word out. This year there was special emphasis on the sorting. As Plimpton said, they found value in grouping multiple copies of bestsellers like “Lessons in Chemistry” and “The Secret Life of Bees.”
Louisa Salvador, a Rye High School senior, was identified by the co-chairs as the “volunteer extraordinaire,” helping most days and sorting books in the Meeting Room into subcategories, including “literature, self-help, biography, memoirs, and coffee table books.”
Volunteers even grouped popular series like “Dog Man” and “Big Nate” near the “Hardy Boys” and “Nancy Drew.” This allowed grandparents to rediscover childhood favorites as their children uncovered books they will someday share with their offspring.
This was true for Rye resident Daniela Plath, who moved with her family from Germany a year ago. Daughter Paulina was delighted to show the copy she found of “Knuffle Bunny.” She said she had the first and the third book, but had just found the second, right there on the Village Green.
As Shoemaker surveyed the scene, he said he always looks forward to what he calls the “miracle hour,” the last 60 minutes of the sale when teachers are allowed to come and simply take books they would like for their classrooms.
Shoemaker was particularly proud that, at the end of the book sale, leftover books were donated to charity partners: Blue Heart Forever, Project Hope, the Carver Center, Room to Grow, Bay State books, Children’s Collective and Safe Horizon, and the Sharing Shelf. Volunteers from each of the charities came to pick up books and received help in the selection as well.
“The books are gone,” said Plimpton, on the day after the sale. She had stopped by on Monday morning to see how many books were left. Not a single one remained. The last charity had taken more than 700 books.
