Armed with a green Tupperware bin bearing his name, Bob Nudelman showed up at a book sale a day early.
Traveling from Chester, Va., he wouldn’t say exactly how long he’d been there because he didn’t want his competition to find out.
Saturday was the first day of the five-day-long sale, and hundreds of dealers, bookworms and penny-pinching students alike lined up hours before the sale opened at 430-B N. Main St.
“This is probably one of the top 10 to 15 sales in the country,” said Nudelman, a book dealer. “It’s the best sale in Florida.”
At 9 a.m., book sale staff opened the doors to customers. Those in the block-long line power-walked past a police officer into the warehouse.
Inside, the building smelled of old books with a tang of cement dust, but shoppers didn’t have time to stop and smell.
It’s all about speed, said Emily Rodriguez, a 28-year-old Gainesville resident.
“I’m in heaven,” she said as she put a $3, unopened Led Zeppelin record in her box. “We’re all taking advantage of these prices, which you won’t find ever.”
Pete Roode, president of Friends of the Library, said their patronage will be worth more than the shoppers know.
He said the only money the Friends of the Library spends from the proceeds is what’s needed to pay the warehouse electricity bills. Everything else goes to the Alachua County Library District to buy books. He said the sale consistently brings in about $150,000 twice a year.
Saturday brought in $91,700 from thousands of shoppers, and he said that’s especially important this year because the state legislature is considering cutting funding for library districts.
“I think it’s more important than in years gone by,” Roode said.
A mother with a sleeping baby strapped to her back flipped through learning-to-count books.
Retired experts-turned-volunteers kept watch over the books they know best. And because prices are low, book-loving students come flocking.
“This is ridiculous,” said Melika Hadziomerovic, a UF junior, as she sorted out what she couldn’t afford. “It’s everything that I want to buy but can’t afford to buy in a big store.”
The sale, she said, is wonderful. So wonderful, in fact, that it left the English major at a loss for a fitting metaphor.
But, then again, she had been waiting in line since 6:30 a.m.
“It’s like the highlight of the semester,” she said.
