Not all books make the cut.
Some come soiled by coffee. Some come ripped, torn and trashed.
But those are tossed out, and only the best of the bunch remain when book lovers flood the warehouse to pick their wares.
Hundreds of thousands of donations will soon be on sale at the biannual Friends of the Library Book Sale. This week, volunteers will make the final touches to the stands that students and families will scour for stories this weekend.
The book sale starts 9 a.m. Saturday at the Friends of the Library warehouse, 430-B N. Main St. The sale benefits the Alachua County Library District.
About 150 volunteers spent six months preparing for the sale. They sifted through titles, selecting only the well-kept items.
Last year, about 750 people entered the warehouse during the first 30 minutes of the sale. A line stretched three blocks back from the front door.
“It’s a phenomenon,” said Sarah Harrison, 57, longtime Friends of the Library volunteer and the organization’s publicity chair. “Gainesville is a small town.”
As volunteers set up for the sale, carts rolled on the concrete, clanking on the cracks in the floor as they carried donations from people throughout Gainesville to each genre’s tables.
Thick medicine textbooks sat on shelves near neighboring fiction paperbacks. CDs and VHS tapes lined the back walls, holding tunes and tapes once owned by locals.
The sale is the largest of its kind in Florida, Harrison said, and it attracts people from throughout the country.
Ron Beauschamp, 61, packed a small suitcase and drove nine hours from Durham, N.C., to volunteer this weekend. He lived in Gainesville for two years before he moved north, and this Saturday will mark his ninth sale.
“The amount of work that goes into this is just amazing for the results,” Beauschamp said. “I’ve been to tons of book sales, and nothing compares to this.”
Retired professors and professionals organized each category of items available at the event. Magazines laid on tables, their covers capturing moments in history. Posters and original oil paintings were priced and arranged. Cookbooks and craft books waited for families to flip through their worn pages.
Harrison said collectors come in flocks the first day, snatching up hidden gems for less than half of what they’re worth.
Though the sale volunteers appreciate the collectors’ business, they haven’t lost sight of what the book sale means for the community.
“Shucks, we exist for the people of Gainesville,” said Peter Roode, 72, president of the local Friends of the Library chapter. “Our crafty ladies stash a few copies for the Sunday and Monday kids.”
The sale lasts five days and runs Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., Monday and Tuesday from noon to 7 p.m. and Wednesday from noon to 6 p.m.
The average price is between 25 cents and $4. On Wednesday, remaining titles will be sold for 10 cents. Remaining items will be available for charity.
