Members of the Friends of the Hastings Public Library will be saying "Aloha readers" when they open their 29th annual used book sale Friday, July 13 at the city auditorium in Hastings.
"The Big Kahuna," combines a festive Hawaiian theme with their three-day sale. "With some 60,000 books, it will be a book-buyer's paradise," said Felicia Cogley, volunteer coordinator for the Friends.
A force of nearly 200 volunteers, teens to seniors, clad in leis and Hawaiian shirts will help with the sale, which Friday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and continues 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and ends 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. There is a charge to attend Friday and tickets are available now at the library and at the door.
"Each day has a different focus and there always are people who attend all three days," Cogley said.
Opening day is the chance for the best picks, "but there still will be plenty of variety and good things left on Saturday when admission is free," she said.
On Saturday, the Hastings Kiwanis Club will be selling breakfast, snack and lunch concessions and Hawaiian confections at the "Luau Cafe," located in the northwest corner of the auditorium.
Saturday is a good day for families to consider attending.
There will be a craft table for children to design and make their own surfboard bookmarks. Adults won't be left out either. They'll have the chance to create an item made from old books. Artists will be on hand with ideas and instruction and craft materials will be available at no charge.
Library staff will be on hand giving demonstrations of new digital archive equipment available for checkout. This equipment allows records and audio tapes to be downloaded to a computer, ready for transfer to a CD or other listening formats.
Nearly 1,000 large print volumes and more than 300 books on tape will be offered at The Big Kahuna. More than 1,000 movies, many of them classics and children's titles, will be on sale at the event as well.
The sale also offers up an assortment of rare and special interest items as well.
Jack Sandeen, a volunteer who reviews books donated to the library for potential value, calls attention to several standouts, including "The White House Gallery of Official Portraits of the Presidents," a 1901 leather-bound limited edition.
"It presents the official portraits of our presidents, beginning with Washington and ending with T. Roosevelt and reminds us, in this election year, that it's a position we ought to honor more than it seems we do," Sandeen said.
Other standouts include: A 10-volume set of "Foxfire" paperbacks, a twenty-volume "Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents," covering Washington through Wilson and one of the 100 copies of "The Curfew Club."
No need to worry about sorting through stacks of unorganized books. What sets Friends' sale apart from most others is the way the books are meticulously sorted into 70 categories to make it easy for shoppers to find specific areas of interest.
Books range from oldies dating back to the 1700s, to gently-used recent best sellers.
Prices start at 50 cents for paperbacks and $1 for most hardbacks. There also will be specially-priced book sets, magazines sold by the pound, sheet music, jigsaw puzzles, toys and games.
If you are looking for an even better bargain, on Sunday, noon to 4 p.m., books will be sold by the bag or boxful.
Proceeds from this year's sale will go into Friends' treasury which supports library programming, special building needs and new material purchases.
Leftover books will be offered to charities. Interested agencies should call Cogley prior to the sale, at the library, 308-461-2346, for arrangements.
