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60th annual book sale set this week at Westminster Presbyterian Church
By LINDA M. LINONIS
BOARDMAN
Proceeds from the annual used-book sale at Westminster Presbyterian Church benefit a range of charitable organizations.
“Helping people makes it worthwhile,” said Sue Maraffa, a church member since 1986 and sale volunteer since 1988.
Last year, the sale made “just shy of $20,000,” said Jan Pickens, sale coordinator. “We thought when we hit $11,000, it was great then it went up to $15,000.”
Pickens said profits fluctuate from year to year.
Pickens said she is hoping for an outstanding financial result from the 60th annual event set Wednesday through Friday at the church, 119 Stadium Drive.
Because all the books are donated, the event is profitable though it does incur some expenses including rental of 36 tables.
The Women’s Association of the church sponsors the popular fundraiser. From money raised, donations are made locally to Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley, Protestant Family Service and Needle‘s Eye. Other donations go the Presbyterian Church for its charitable projects on a global scale and mission workers in Haiti and Africa.
The sale began by chance in 1957 when the church was located in downtown Youngstown. Hazel Thorne, a member, had visited her son, a pastor in New Jersey, whose church had a used- book sale. She suggested the idea and Westminster tried it.
“It’s been going strong for 60 years ... who would have believed it,” Pickens said.
She and her husband, Jerry, joined the church in 1971 and began volunteering with the book sale two years later. He assembles all the jigsaw puzzles to make sure all the pieces are there.
“They’re all gone after the first day,” she said.
Pickens said she and her husband arrive at 6 a.m. the opening day of the sale and customers are waiting.
The wide-ranging genres of books, the incredible number and degree of organization contribute to the sale’s success.
“We estimate we have about 15,000 books ... more than ever,” Pickens said.
The church accepts donations for the sale year-round except for a couple of weeks before the sale. A sign is already up at the book sale entrance and drop-off point that notes donations for next year will be accepted starting Sunday.
About 50 volunteers from the church and community work shifts during the three sale days; about 30 volunteers meet monthly at the church to process book donations.
“The dusters ... who clean up the books ... also go through them,” Pickens said. “We’ve found money ... a $100 bill one time,” she said.
Another instance found family photos tucked into a book but a receipt with a name and address helped locate the family.
“They were so grateful for the return of the photos,” Maraffa said.
As the books are processed, Maraffa said, they are categorized and priced from 10 cents to $5 to $10. Children’s books are priced from 30 cents to $5 with many of them 60 cents.
Books that are musty and unsuitable for sale go to the Mahoning County Green Team for recycling. Books that don’t sell also go to the Green Team.
“We don’t carry over books from one sale to the next,” said Jan Machel, a 29-year church member who has volunteered on the sale for five years.
Pickens did note the book sale crew “is blessed with storage space.”
Because the books are categorized, book buyers get a huge advantage. Instead of plowing through piles of random books, they can make a bee line to categories they prefer. These include new fiction, old and unusual, religion, children, sports, western, humor, poetry, science fiction, gardening, cookbooks, multiple hobbies and miscellaneous.
Along with book enthusiasts, the sale draws bookstore owners.
“One dealer has bought as much as $500 worth of books,” Maraffa said.
“We price to sell,” Machel said. “We check online the going price ... especially for rare and unusual books.”
It may be surprising that technology hasn’t hurt the sale because of e-books.
“People tell us they like the feel of holding a book,” Machel said.
Book sale volunteers wear yellow T-shirts. Some note the 60th annual sale, while others will be wearing T-shirts they kept from the 50th.
The women agreed that working together on this project was “good fellowship.”