Friends of the Library

ByDeborah Raney
10 Comments

Our local Friends of the Library book sale was last week, and Ken and I got there early Thursday night since books were super cheap for Friends members—only $1 for hardcover and 50 cents for paper. But look how long the line already was!

After renewing our membership, we got $5 in “library bucks” to spend and came home with a bargain bag full! I was thrilled to find some easy piano books to play from and I spent yesterday afternoon playing my heart out. (My husband is such a good sport to put up with my bumbling tries at reading music! But I’m getting better week by week!)

I also found a great decorating book with kitchen ideas and a Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales for Ken. The illustrations in the Grimm’s book are lovely.

I found a whole box of vintage Readers Digest Condensed Books and texted my youngest daughter to see if she wanted some of them. She had spotted one with a pretty cover at a garage sale last summer and told me to keep an eye out for more. Tavia is an avid reader, but she wanted these for decorating. 🙂 I heard back from her just as we walked out the door of the library, so Ken went to get the car and I ran back in and got seven of these with such pretty covers. $1 each is a great price for these, and I even had fifty cents left from my library bucks to contribute. Tavia was thrilled!

If you know me very well at all, you’ll laugh when you see the Marie Kondo book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Marie Kondo is all about getting rid of stuff andd tidying up. I am a bona fide maximalist! But I do like all my stuff to be tidy, and I’ve used several of her tips for organization in the past. I’m actually enjoying the book.

Does your public library have a Friends of the Library group? Have you ever been to one of their book sales? I’d love to hear about your favorite book sale find, whether at a library sale or a garage sale or thrift shop.

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DEBORAH RANEY's first novel, A Vow to Cherish, inspired the World Wide Pictures film of the same title and launched Deb’s writing career. Forty books later, she's still creating stories that touch hearts and lives. Her novels have won RWA's RITA Award, the ACFW Carol Award, the National Readers Choice Award, and the HOLT Medallion. She is also a four-time Christy Award finalist. Deb is on faculty for several national writers’ conferences and served on the executive board of the 2,500-member American Christian Fiction Writers organization for 18 years before retiring in 2022. She is a recent transplant to Missouri, having moved with her husband, Ken Raney, from their native Kansas to be closer to kids and grandkids. They love road trips, e-biking, Friday garage sale dates, and breakfast on the screened porch overlooking their wooded backyard.

10 Comments

  1. It used to, but I haven’t heard of one lately. You sure got a lot of bargains!

  2. Deb, I have the John Thompson’s books (1, 2, & 3) from when I took lessons in the 1960s. They’re filled with gold stars and the dates I got said stars after I completed a song well. Those three Thompson books are the only ones I kept from bygone years. I gave the rest of my lesson books to my grandson when I gave him my upright piano. I now have an electronic keyboard and I mostly use the Alfred’s Basic Adult Piano Course books.

    1. We’ll have to get together and play sometime, Robin. There are still songs in the Third Grade book that I can’t play, but I’m getting there slowly. I think Fourth Grade is going to be a BIG challenge. 🤪

  3. I love a library sale! I’ve purchased so many great books over the years, often at libraries in cities we are visiting! I need to see if there are any happening soon near me!

  4. Our small Kansas town has a Friends of the Library group and I am on the board. We always have an annual book sale, usually in the summer. It’s fun to help set up and work the sale and get a preview of the books. We’ve found it successful to have the sale in conjunction with a community event like our Swedish Midsummers Festival since it brings in people from out of town who often stop in for the sale.

    1. Steph Whitson, Nancy Moser, and I came to your Friends of the Library sale many years ago and all came home with a brown paper grocery bag FULL of books for a little bit of nothing! Favorite memory!

  5. Oh, yes, Deborah – our Friends of the Library have one regularly. Book mania would describe it well. Haven’t been for awhile but that’s probably a good thing, based on how many books I already own. That said, they’re such fun and I love your piles of great books. I’ve gotten some great out-of-print needlework books over the years.

    1. Yes! Our sale had lots of needlework, quilting, etc. books and tons of cookbooks. I’m always tempted by the cookbooks, but I just don’t cook that much and prefer family recipes and those I find online. But I do love looking at cookbooks!

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