Thursday, December 28, 2017

Happy New Year!

Best wishes for a fantastic 2018 from Friends of the Glenview Library.  Happy Reading and Happy New Year!

Thursday, September 28, 2017

Volunteering at the Used Book Store

One summer day, several years ago, I was really early for an appointment with my dentist (Eric Lim at Glenlake Dental, in the interest of Hugging the Bear).  So I went into the old library and saw that there was a Used Book Store.
Used book stores are about my favorite thing on Planet Earth. Up there with puppies, chocolate and the Internet.  I went in and spent money, then saw they were looking for volunteers.  I could have a three hour shift, once a week.  I could sit and read books and talk to people about books and sell books and call it volunteering
How fast do you think I signed up?
In the beginning, my favorite thing was opening a box of new donations.  It was like Christmas morning, the surprise and delight of what I might find.  First dibs on buying them was pretty fun, too.  Reviewing and pricing donations meant that I was also listing books for sale on the Amazon.com storefront.  So my next favorite thing was when a book I listed on Amazon had sold.
Then, we moved to the new building.  If you haven’t been there, the Irene Overman Kreer Used Book Store has a dedicated room off the main hallway and it is fabulous. Donations are up, sales are up, and interest in our cause is higher than it has been in as long as I can remember.  All proceeds go to Friends of the Glenview Library.  From the website:
“The Friends of the Glenview Library is organized exclusively for the charitable, educational, and continuing development of the Glenview Public Library. Proceeds generated by the Friends ongoing fund raising efforts are used to purchase important items not possible in the Library's regular operating budget, as well as to support special projects.”
The great thing about volunteering here is that there is something for everyone that loves books. Some volunteers like researching the rare finds among the donations. (I don’t have the patience.)  Some like to organize the titles.  Or argue in which section a book should really be shelved. (I might sometimes do that.)  My new favorite thing?  When someone buys a book that I have already read and I know that it is great and can tell them so.
The Used Book Store is open during regular library hours.  I certainly hope you will visit.  If you are interested in volunteering, you can find the application and contact information here
Contributed by:  Anne Bradley

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