Friends of Lethbridge Public Library turn the page on bag sale

By Justin Seward - Lethbridge Herald on November 20, 2024.

Herald photo by Justin Seward People pack a room at the Lethbridge Public Library's downtown branch to find books during the pre-holiday bag sale this past weekend.

Boxes upon boxes of books were on display at the Lethbridge Public Library’s downtown branch for people to fill their bags with at the pre-holiday bag sale that was hosted by the Friends of the Lethbridge Public Library on Saturday.

“With the pre-holiday sale, I think a lot of it is getting books for that time when they’re off during the holidays as well as gifting them to other people,” said Barb Gibson, Booktique director with the Friends of the Lethbridge Public Library.

There were 335 boxes of books put out for the sale and people could come in to fill a standard bag for $5.

“Some of the books have been deselected by the library because as new books come in for their collection, of course, they have to re-up some shelf space,” said Gibson.

The sale also receives donations.

Book genres ranged from adult fiction and adult non-fiction to junior fiction and non-fiction and easy readers.

Book enthusiasts were lined-up to get into the sale before the 10 a.m. opening.

“It was unbelievable,” said Gibson.

“I walked by the rooms and I was just like blown away, it was so crowded. Apparently we had a line-up outside when they opened the doors at 10 and it’s just been steady.”

Melissa Bootsman was searching for historical, fiction and kids books at her first pre-holiday sale.

“There’s a lot of books, and it’s a little overwhelming, but there’s a lot of high quality books and some books that I’ve been looking for and a lot of classics, so I think my kids are going to be really excited,” said Bootsman.

The inaugural pre-holiday sale brought in $3,000 last year and Gibson anticipated the same amount coming in this year.

All the money made from the sale goes back into the library’s programming and services.