I guess I’ve been going to the Pequot Library book sale for about 15/16 years now. I look forward to it every summer. Rooms and tents and table upon table of books to look through. Not as easy as going to a bookstore to get the book you’re looking for, but a lot more fun and a lot cheaper. Always seems to land on the hottest weekend of the year, some how, although it’s never on the same date. The air in the library hall is stifling. There are a couple of fans just blowing the hot air around. At times it’s so crowded you can barely move through the tiny aisles without brushing against someone, but you want to look at every single book and people are so into their browsing that most of the time they don’t even realize anything else is going on around them. The tents outside aren’t any better. Occasionally there’s a breeze that comes through, but really the air seems just as stifling as inside.
It’s a good opportunity to people watch. I’m told that people come from all around the country to look at rare and not-so-rare finds. I think that really it’s just people from within the state and neighboring states as well, people on cell phones from NYC telling their friends that they’re “up in Connecticut” for the day at a book fair and they’ll be back in the city later that tonight. How quaint. It’s interesting to see what books people gravitate for. Always conversations about what people have read and what they haven’t and what they want to read. People recommending books to others. Some people come empty-handed. Others bring boxes and bags and wagons to put books into. Some people leave with one book, others leave with 50. It’s insane.
Some years are better than others. I can remember one year that I didn’t purchase a single book, but I remember another year filling up an entire paper bag with books. I don’t think I’ve ever paid more than $25 at a time for books each year, and leave with a significant amount. I think of all the money I save compared to the list price of the books I purchase. I think of all the money the library makes from this sale to keep it’s doors open to the public. I think of the uniqueness of the library — how it looks less like a public building and more like a private home.
Pequot Library It’s on this weekend. I will be there, hopefully Saturday after I end my shift of volunteering at another library. ha.