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Books books books

Friends of the Library book sale begins today

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Volunteers Deb Kramer, of Fort Dodge, and Isabel Beekman, 17, of Fort Dodge, organize some of the books that will be available at the Friends of the Fort Dodge Public Library book sale this week.

Bibliophiles of all ages are invited to the Friends of the Fort Dodge Public Library semi-annual book sale this week.

The sale is located inside the library’s ICN Meeting Room at 424 Central Ave. It will run today through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

The Friends of the Library book sale is very important to the library, said Fort Dodge Pubilc Library Director Rita Schmidt said.

“All of the monies that the Friends raise are used to help pay for programming at the library, like our magazine and newspaper subscriptions,” she said. “The monies that they raise do help us provide services to the communities.”

Hundreds and hundreds of books of all genres and topics are waiting for just the right book lover to take them home.

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Melanie Vogt, of Fort Dodge, a board member with the Friends of the Fort Dodge Public Library, organizes some children's books while setting up for the organization's annual used book sale on Monday morning.

Adult books are $1 for hardcover books and 50 cents for paperbacks. Kids books are 50 cents for hardcovers and 25 cents for paperbacks. On Friday, the sale will have a special where for $3, shoppers will be given a bag to fill with as many books as they like. There will be a similar special on Saturday, but the price will drop to $1 per bag.

The Friends of the Library book sale is a semi-annual event, usually held in April and in November.

“We didn’t have either sale last year because of COVID,” said Julie Junkman, Friends of the Library board president.

Junkman said she’s hoping to get a good turnout for this sale.

“We have lots of books,” she said. “I can’t believe how many books we’ve accumulated.”

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Friends of the Fort Dodge Public Library board member Lori Thomas, of Fort Dodge, , helps organize boxes of books with help from volunteer Beverly Holweg, of Fort Dodge, on Monday morning. The two were preparing for the biannual Friends of the Library Book Sale.

In the meeting room where the sale is set up, all the usual tables are covered in books, and each table has several additional boxes of books underneath. Junkman said they have a particularly large variety of mystery novels this year.

Schmidt explained that the books in the sale come from a variety of places, including donations from members of the community and materials the library has withdrawn from its collection.

The library director said used books like these are perfect for someone to take to the beach and not worry about if the book gets wet or a little sandy.

She said some even find other interesting things to do with the used books, including making art with them.

“You never know what you’re going to find,” Schmidt said. “There’s all sorts of interesting things and it’s for a good cause.”

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