Fernandina Beach, FL – Area residents showed their love of reading and support of the library by purchasing $8,353 worth of books at the Friends of the Library’s recent book sale. Your neighbors contributed over 15,000 books and materials, and volunteers worked long and hard for months to make the sale a success.

“People always compliment us on how well our sales are organized,” says Gigi Feazell, FOL board member and volunteer chairman. “It wouldn’t happen if we didn’t have so many wonderful volunteers. The sorters need special thanks because they work for months preparing for the sale. Anne Sparkle and Jeanie Taylor are the leaders extraordinaire and Verne Samson does the incredible job of sorting the youth books and knowing which book is suitable for which age. Pat Henderson sorts and then does all matter of things to get ready for the sale like making signs etc… and there are so many others.”

On the days of the sale, fifty-one volunteers served as cashiers and merchandisers, many working more than one shift and some, every shift. Nine students from Fernandina Beach High School helped on Saturday and the Sheriff’s Department provided us with crucial help getting the books up to the gym and the left-overs back down after the sale. Lots of organizations provided tables, boxes and other support as well.

The semi-annual book sales raise the bulk of the Friends’ annual grants to the Fernandina Beach Library. In the past year, the FOL contributed more than $23,000 to fund books, e-books and periodicals, databases, network access and technology including databases used to complete job applications, develop resumes and take certification tests for various careers.

The next sale will be March 21-23, 2013, and volunteers are already gearing up. Book sale chairman, Bruce Morrison, recently rolled up his sleeves to build a new book drop for donations. You’ll find his bright red book house under the covered walkway on the 11th Street side of the Peck Center.

Friends of the Fernandina Beach Library is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporation whose main mission is two-fold – to promote literacy and life-long learning and to advocate and raise funds for the library. For information on membership or events, send an email to FernandinaLibFriends@gmail.com or visit www.nassaureads.com and click on Friends of the Library.