Staff Writer

bwilliams@thealmanac.net

After years of back breaking annual and biannual book sales, Friends of Mt. Lebanon Library decided the time is right to open a year-round bookstore.

Special themed sales and the October "Books 'n Bubbly" event will continue, Richey says.

In a way, the book sales have become a victim of their success. There are so many books donated to the library, that volunteers struggle to keep up the pace. Book sorting is necessary year-round. There are so many donations, Richey said, the library has to rent a trailer to store anywhere from 800 to 1,200 boxes of books in anticipation of the sale. That's about 60,000 volumes, twice a year. A U-Haul truck must be rented to transport these boxes from the storage facility to the library.

There's quite a bit of manual labor required in moving the heavy boxes, assembling and disassembling shelves and moving the stock.

"It takes about one month to gear up for the sale, to stock, assemble and take down the shelving," Richey said. "Everything else going on at the library is interrupted because of the book sales. Getting volunteers to move the heavy boxes twice a year is getting tougher and tougher.

"With sales only twice a year, people only have access to our inventory for less than 20 days. With a store, the public will have access to our extraordinary collection every day. This is the ultimate in recycling, and a great way to benefit the environment and the library," Richey said.

Right now, the library accepts donations every day. Richey says patrons are generous to the library. In addition to books, the library receives CDs, VHS videos, DVDs and magazines. In recent years, donations of VHS tapes have increased, as have other multi-media items.

The Friends of the Library also operates and Ebay store. Richey said the store is popular with older, collectible titles. All the money raised by the sales goes back to the library to fund programs. The sales average about $80,000 a year back to the library.

To help kick off the grand opening, the library is sponsoring a "Name Your Bookshop Contest," where one lucky person will receive a gift certificate for submission of the winning name. Applications are available at the library. They must be returned by Nov. 20.

"Our twice-yearly sales are very labor intensive," said Friends volunteer Petra Fey. "By having a bookstore open, it takes a bit of the frenzy away. We will still have themed sales, and we won't be giving up the October sale. Many libraries are able to raise more money with a perpetual sale rather than individual sales. Eventually we might be able to set up tables at special events such as "Art in the Park," or the garden tour. Having a store gives us a lot of flexibility and makes Mt. Lebanon a much more livable place," Fey said.