The Friends of the Sebastopol Library book sale is back, charging a buck per book on Sunday, March 6 from 10 a.m. to 4.p.m. Vice President Walt Frazer said it’s been two years since the last book sale was canceled in March 2020, gulped down with the rest of public life by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2022, the volunteers are turning the page, hosting the one-day sale in the Sebastopol Area Senior Center’s garage across the parking lot from the regional library. The Friends of the Sebastopol Library and the City of Sebastopol are co-sponsoring the event.
“People have been asking for the last two years, when is the next sale?” Frazer said, glad to finally have an answer. “And people are really excited about it. Hundreds of people show up for these things and it’s incredible bargains on really nice books.”
Expect over a dozen tables covered in books donated mostly by locals, historically ranging from children’s specials to coffee table staples. Proceeds go to special programs of the library that aren’t covered by the broader Sonoma County Library system, Frazer said.
Friends of the Sebastopol Library traditionally hosts three-day book sales in the library a few times a year. The vice president said the volunteers hope to hold their next sale inside the building after repeated delays and increasing COVID-19 variants.
He described the book sales as a win for the library, its Friends and the buyers and donors in town. “It really ties the city together,” Frazer said.
Frazer said he’s been organizing book sales for 20 years now, volunteering in Sebastopol for six years and 14 years prior at another library in northern California, but before all that, he owned a used bookstore in Eureka from about 1990 to 2003 called Perfectly Good Books.
“And one of the things that’s always been a real thrill for me is for people to come up and say, ‘Oh, I’ve been looking for this book for 10 years,’ or whatever and to find somebody who really appreciates a book and to be able to provide it to them. That’s really a lot of fun,” he said.
