Library Sales - I Give Up!

There's goodies, and there's baddies. Both are fairly consistent from sale
to sale.

Unfortunately the goodies do not seem to be distributed geographically in a
fair and balanced manner. You may be living in an area that has few or none.

I've noticed an odd pattern since I moved to Chicago last year: the farther
I go into the suburbs, the worse the book sales get.
 >> Stay informed about: Library Sales - I Give Up! 

shebadog.DeleteThis@optonline.net (Art Layton) wrote in message news:<3d156562.0407180438.2d5fff8e.DeleteThis@posting.google.com>...
 > Went to a Library sale yesterday in Westport, CT. 60,000 books and
 > dozens of dealers. After spending an hour there and finding nothing
 > even remotely interesting, I have decided to give up on libarary
 > sales. It seems like I see the same books at every library sale.

Sad but true, but I've noticed that the sale selections are far
better at the libraries located in more prosperous cities and towns
(many more high-valued business and technical works for instance), so
you might try frequenting the relative equivalent of a Beverly Hills
in your area. E.g., several months ago I went to a sale at relatively
prosaic Bothell around here and found only 1 good book (_History of
Costume_, recently sold).* A month later, a sale at well-heeled
Millcreek netted a bunch, including semi-rare art books, aviation
texts (all valued at $50+) and the compact edition of the OED.


*Albeit I got there a bit late, as in 5 minutes after those aggressive
Scoutpal-cell-phone-armed dealers have torn through the place during
the "preview" sale for Friends of the Library. BTW, many libraries now
also have ongoing sales, i.e. there's always some shelf or two of used
books available for purchase when you walk in; the prosperity meter
also applies here.

--
Ht<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Library Sales - I Give Up! 

How far afield have you gone? I rarely find a bad library book sale in Fort
Worth, Arlington, Dallas, etc. I have no idea how much stuff is there in
terms of numbers, but it takes a while to see it all.

Think of it this way: The bad book sales make you appreciate the good ones
more.
 >> Stay informed about: Library Sales - I Give Up! 

I have a theory that sooner or later all that will be left
at library sales will be books written by Danielle Steele,
John Grisham, Mary Higgins Clark, and such writers. I
wanted to go to the Westport sale but exhaustion after a
long week won out. Maybe, in view of your comments, I did
too.

I am concentrating my efforts these days mostly on tag
sales, where I have had a few pleasant surprises.


Francis A. Miniter


Art Layton wrote:

 > Went to a Library sale yesterday in Westport, CT. 60,000 books and
 > dozens of dealers. After spending an hour there and finding nothing
 > even remotely interesting, I have decided to give up on libarary
 > sales. It seems like I see the same books at every library sale. Maybe
 > I am just jaded, but I just have to find a brag to report to other
 > readers!
 >
 > If I go any more, it will be the last day when books are free.
 >
 > Art Layton
 > Stamford CT<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Library Sales - I Give Up! 

"Matt J. McCullar" <mccullar.TakeThisOut@flash.net> wrote in message
news:ccxKc.1294$u_7.553@newssvr31.news.prodigy.com...

 > How far afield have you gone?

A 90-minute drive from my home near the lake to the town of Algonquin, where
I found nothing worth buying at all, either for myself or for sale. That one
was so bad that it actually had shelves labeled "Jean Auel," "Mary Higgins
Clark," etc.

And this may be unfair, but there was a 2 1/2 hour drive through darkness
and snow to McHenry, where I found a big sign saying "Book sale this
weekend!" in front of a library that was locked up tight, with lights off
and parking lot empty. I later learned that the sale was being held either
in the rear of the building or in another building behind it. That was
probably obvious to the locals, and I might have figured it out in daylight,
but the published directions gave no clue.

My best experience was at the public library in Evanston, Chicago's largest
suburb, about 15 minutes from my house. My second-best experience was the
Co-op book sale in Hyde Park, on the south side of the city near the
University of Chicago.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Library Sales - I Give Up! 

On Sun, 18 Jul 2004 16:48:16 GMT, "Jonathan Sachs"
<llm040609 RemoveThis @earthlink.net> declared:

 >My best experience was at the public library in Evanston, Chicago's largest
 >suburb, about 15 minutes from my house.

i keep missing that one, has it happened this year?

 >My second-best experience was the
 >Co-op book sale in Hyde Park, on the south side of the city near the
 >University of Chicago.

the co-op is ok, brandeis is slightly better only because of the
quantity of books. this year i'm trying the members preview at
newberry for the first time to see if it's worth it.


Robert

--

The sound of gunfire, off in the distance, I'm getting used to it now
Lived in a brownstone, lived in the ghetto, I've lived all over this town
This ain't no party, this ain't no disco, this ain't no fooling around<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Library Sales - I Give Up! 

"Jonathan Sachs" <llm040609.RemoveThis@earthlink.net> wrote in message news:<kRxKc.7254$Qu5.2046@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net>...
 > "Matt J. McCullar" <mccullar.RemoveThis@flash.net> wrote in message
 > news:ccxKc.1294$u_7.553@newssvr31.news.prodigy.com...
 >
  > > How far afield have you gone?
 >
 > A 90-minute drive from my home near the lake to the town of Algonquin, where
 > I found nothing worth buying at all, either for myself or for sale. That one
 > was so bad that it actually had shelves labeled "Jean Auel," "Mary Higgins
 > Clark," etc.
 >
<snip> I keep waiting for a Tom Clancy table.

Art Layton
Stamford CT<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Library Sales - I Give Up! 

On 18 Jul 2004 14:47:03 -0700, shebadog.RemoveThis@optonline.net (Art Layton)
declared:

 >"Jonathan Sachs" <llm040609.RemoveThis@earthlink.net> wrote in message news:<kRxKc.7254$Qu5.2046@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net>...
  >> "Matt J. McCullar" <mccullar.RemoveThis@flash.net> wrote in message
  >> news:ccxKc.1294$u_7.553@newssvr31.news.prodigy.com...
  >>
   >> > How far afield have you gone?
  >>
  >> A 90-minute drive from my home near the lake to the town of Algonquin, where
  >> I found nothing worth buying at all, either for myself or for sale. That one
  >> was so bad that it actually had shelves labeled "Jean Auel," "Mary Higgins
  >> Clark," etc.
  >>
 ><snip> I keep waiting for a Tom Clancy table.
 >

can't be far, most all of them already have an oprah table.


Robert

--

The sound of gunfire, off in the distance, I'm getting used to it now
Lived in a brownstone, lived in the ghetto, I've lived all over this town
This ain't no party, this ain't no disco, this ain't no fooling around<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Library Sales - I Give Up! 

"MindElec" <MindElec DeleteThis @aol.com> wrote in message
news:2eqlf05ro19isdrprp8vn3574q2bhlqqa2@4ax.com...

  > >My best experience was at the public library in Evanston, Chicago's
largest
  > >suburb, about 15 minutes from my house.
 >
 > i keep missing that one, has it happened this year?

Yes, but I believe it's coming up again on 9/11. I'm not sure why I'm
telling you this; apart from the competition is the most crowded sale I've
ever attended, and after the indoor sales in Pleasant Hill (California),
that's saying a lot.

 > the co-op is ok, brandeis is slightly better only because of the
 > quantity of books. this year i'm trying the members preview at
 > newberry for the first time to see if it's worth it.

I tried Brandeis once, as a visitor before I moved back here, and I was
disappointed. Huge, but after waiting in line for two hours I didn't find
much of interest. I wonder if the preview is better, but now that I have
demoted bookselling from a second-income pursuit to a profitable amusement,
I'm not about pay their startling admission fee to find out.

I'm curious about the Newberry sale too, but it also has a rather
substantial admission fee, and it probably does not have many of the type of
books I am familiar with (mainly technical books). My father is a member and
might be able to get me in free, but I just don't think I'll bother.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Library Sales - I Give Up! 

On Mon, 19 Jul 2004 04:26:42 GMT, "Jonathan Sachs"
<llm040609.TakeThisOut@earthlink.net> declared:

 >"MindElec" <MindElec.TakeThisOut@aol.com> wrote in message
 >news:2eqlf05ro19isdrprp8vn3574q2bhlqqa2@4ax.com...
 >
   >> >My best experience was at the public library in Evanston, Chicago's
 >largest
   >> >suburb, about 15 minutes from my house.
  >>
  >> i keep missing that one, has it happened this year?
 >
 >Yes, but I believe it's coming up again on 9/11. I'm not sure why I'm
 >telling you this; apart from the competition is the most crowded sale I've
 >ever attended, and after the indoor sales in Pleasant Hill (California),
 >that's saying a lot.

there's more than one a year i've been missing, YIKES! i've got to
find out about this, lol.

  >> the co-op is ok, brandeis is slightly better only because of the
  >> quantity of books. this year i'm trying the members preview at
  >> newberry for the first time to see if it's worth it.
 >
 >I tried Brandeis once, as a visitor before I moved back here, and I was
 >disappointed. Huge, but after waiting in line for two hours I didn't find
 >much of interest. I wonder if the preview is better, but now that I have
 >demoted bookselling from a second-income pursuit to a profitable amusement,
 >I'm not about pay their startling admission fee to find out.

a big plus to the fee was how incredibly less crowded it was.

 >I'm curious about the Newberry sale too, but it also has a rather
 >substantial admission fee, and it probably does not have many of the type of
 >books I am familiar with (mainly technical books). My father is a member and
 >might be able to get me in free, but I just don't think I'll bother.
 >

i've never done the preview, at the winter sale they had memberships
at half off, which made it more affordable to try. as a friend said
to me, if you pay $50, but find 100 books that's only .50 more a book.
made it a little more palatable to me.


Robert

--

The sound of gunfire, off in the distance, I'm getting used to it now
Lived in a brownstone, lived in the ghetto, I've lived all over this town
This ain't no party, this ain't no disco, this ain't no fooling around<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Library Sales - I Give Up! 

On Mon, 19 Jul 2004 04:26:42 GMT, "Jonathan Sachs"
<llm040609.RemoveThis@earthlink.net> wrote:

 >"MindElec" <MindElec.RemoveThis@aol.com> wrote in message
 >news:2eqlf05ro19isdrprp8vn3574q2bhlqqa2@4ax.com...
 >
SNIP
 >
 >Yes, but I believe it's coming up again on 9/11. I'm not sure why I'm
 >telling you this; apart from the competition is the most crowded sale I've
 >ever attended, and after the indoor sales in Pleasant Hill (California),
 >that's saying a lot.
 >
SNIP

Come now, sir!
Compared to Malayan ferries, Indian commuter trains or the Tokyo
subway, Pleasant Hill FotL sales are QUITE spacious.
I should know, I have helped organize several and have attended many.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Library Sales - I Give Up! 

"Dave" <me.DeleteThis@privacy.com> wrote in message
news:uq2rf05ciuaovt0ueri3srs2uqda6qjh2h@4ax.com...

> Compared to Malayan ferries, Indian commuter trains or the Tokyo
> subway, Pleasant Hill FotL sales are QUITE spacious.

Are there book sales in those places? When? Do they have previews? Do they
set out all of the books at once or add new ones throughout the sale? Do
they provide boxes?...
 >> Stay informed about: Library Sales - I Give Up! 

Seriously, folks... Pleasant Hill has one of the best sales in a region that
has a lot of good ones. But you have to admit that the bodies get kind of
thick in that room to the left of the entrance, where the humor, history,
cookbooks, etc. are found.
 >> Stay informed about: Library Sales - I Give Up!