On Tuesday, April 21, the Axe Library hosted its annual Spring Book Sale from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. All proceeds went to support the services the library has, as they work to support the community and students alike.
Throughout the year, the library collects donations for a few reasons, but most go towards the inventory for the book sale during the spring. “It’s become tradition to do a sale in the spring of donated materials that are brought in throughout the year, and those still in good enough condition will often be get sold at low prices to see if we can encourage new readership, or help someone rediscover an old classic,” Jorge Leon Jr., the Learning Outreach Librarian, said.
Leon said that the numbers haven’t been fully tallied yet but felt it went well in two different ways. “I always measure it by two different things… for me, it’s nice to make a few dollars and like I said, it helps with programming, but I find it more fascinating when I see people from the community popping in and finding a new read or rediscovering a book they hadn’t seen for quite a while.”
All proceeds from the book sale go towards the programs and services the library provides, like the environment of the library or snacks during finals week. “We try to make sure that students have a welcoming space in the library, and sometimes that might mean, like here in the next few weeks when we have dead week and finals week, we’ll try and have drinks for all of dead week and then snacks during finals for the late nights to encourage students to come study,” Leon said.
Libraries are not only places to learn or read, but they are a place to discover things; new and old. Events like this one bring people in, and help bring awareness of this to the people coming in. “I think many people see libraries as that space where they can do something, and it’s not often, but sometimes you’ll discover something new: a book display, a new program… it’s just one of those pieces of the whole picture of what we do to engage with the community,” Leon said.
The event is also meant to bring members of the community who do not currently attend the university for a few different reasons. “We are geared towards students, but we also gear towards students to be, or community members that have been previous gorillas, as we say with many of our phrases… but it’s interesting, because sometimes I’ll see individuals will pop in for children’s books and things that they may not find as frequently, or it might just be easier to peruse and locate through the library,” Leon said.
In a tight-knit town like Pittsburg, an event like the book sale with paperback books selling for $1 and hardbacks for $2, word of mouth is a powerful component in how many people come in. Leon explained, “Because the event runs for enough hours, it tends to be a come-and-go event, so some people pop in, and then they’ll reach out and send a message to somebody, and they’ll see some others, and so it kind of has a word of mouth effect like that.”
The goal is to encourage people to come in and see what resources are available at the library. Leon noted, “With events like this, we try to encourage [people] to come here if they have the opportunity, and for students to be made aware that there is a lot more resources out there.”