Over the past few weeks, I’ve shared the books I purchased in a recent thrifting Mega Haul (check out Part One, Part Two, and Part Three). In Part Three, I listed all of the books that I got at the second day of the library book sale where you could stuff as many books into a plastic bag as you could for only $5! In this post, I’ll tell you a little more about my experience.
The Experience:
The library opened at 9:30 a.m. I expected a few people to be there, but when I came a minute before it opened, around twenty people were already lined up in front of the doors. Once we got in, one of the library workers gave us a plastic bag (which they use to compare sizes–it’s not fair if someone uses a plastic bag and another person brings a garbage bag). Then, we all headed back to the book room filled wall to wall with boxes of books for every age.
When I walked in, the sale was already crazy! A bunch of recent DVDs were in the room and a lady swiped them all into her bag. Let me tell you, I’ve shopped both Lilly for Target (where the clothes sold out within minutes) and a Plato’s Grab Bag sale (where clothes littered the floor after a few minutes) and I’d have to say, this was almost as crazy.
Since I checked out the sale on the first day, when books were individually priced, I knew the general places of the sections I wanted to go. Most of the books were picked over from the first day, but I still had my eye on some books that I wasn’t so sure about or wouldn’t pick up normally, so I was excited to see if they were still left.
One series on the top of my list was the Babysitter’s Club. I loved the Babysitter’s Club when I was younger, but I either gave away or sold my books when I outgrew them. I didn’t buy them on the first day because there were so many and even though the books weren’t that expensive, it would really add up if I purchased all of them. Luckily for me, all of the Babysitters Club books and its spin off series Little Sister were still there. I managed to stuff most of the 60 books into one bag!
I also brought an empty tote bag (I wasn’t sure if they would give us bags, so I brought it in case) and I looked around the picture books and YA sections for a first round. Any books that wouldn’t fit in my plastic bag, I threw in my tote bag. By time time, my grandmother already finished looking for books, so I brought all of my books out to a cleared area so she could organize them within the bag and fit them into additional bags she picked up at the front.
Once my arms were free, I went back in for more to get a better look at books I initially passed up. Since I overflowed into another bag, I decided to look for books that I wasn’t sure about or books my sister shoved into my hands during her hunt. I was happy to pick up a few historical fiction, nonfiction, and classic books, which I never reach for first. In addition, I found a lot of great picture books, many by Tomie de Paola (who I don’t usually pick up because I always see so many of them, but I know I can’t get them all and I can’t bear to choose).
The Result:
At the end of the sale, I filled almost two bags of a little over 100 books. In total, my grandmother, sister, and I filled three bags of books. We calculated the actual retail price and if we purchased all of our books in the book store we would have paid around $630.00 (most likely this price is off since several of the books did not have a price that was easily found online) for $15, which is 98% savings. We paid $15.00 in total, or about $0.10 per book. My sister found the best deals–she bought a lot of hardcover books originally priced around $20.00 for only $0.10 each!
Why this is my favorite book sale:
- Many retired teachers work in my local library system, so for the library sale they empty their old classroom libraries. This gives a great selection of books for my future classroom!
- All the proceeds go to the public library, so this sale will help upkeep the library and allow for new books to be added to the collection. Everyone in the county benefits!
Where is your favorite place to thrift books?
Beauty and the Bean Boots 
[…] haul that I accumulated from my library’s annual book sale (see parts one, two, three, and four). This year, I went a little crazy and bought 223 books for around $65! Since I bought so many […]
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[…] Since the library most likely will give you a bag to ensure consistency, you might want to bring your own tote bag to stash items as your walk around the sale. The flimsy plastic bags won’t be able to hold everything that you will end up stuffing in them and it is difficult to maneuver around the sale with a stack of books in your arms. After you secure your most desired items and scope out the sale again for any books you missed, it’s a good idea to find a less crowded area away from the sale too review the books you picked up, take back any that you accidentally grabbed and don’t want, and to carefully organize the books into as few bags as possible. For more information on how my library sale worked and what to expect on different days of your library book sale, check out my experience post from last year here. […]
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