Tinton Falls Library BIG Book Sale Kicks Off Saturday.

Just in time for reading on the beach, the Tinton Falls library is holding its annual BIG Book Sale.  This weekend you will be able to pick up all your summer reading at a bargain price from the tents outside the library on Tinton Avenue.

This is the library’s biggest fundraiser for the year, estimated to raise between $3,000 - $4,000, which goes straight back into the operating expenses of the library.  As an associate library, the Tinton Falls branch receives only a small amount of funding from the state and Tinton Fall’s government.  They also receive financial aid from the Monmouth County Library System of which they’re a member.  All other funding must be generated by the library itself. 

In the last year the library has been accepting donations of books from patrons which have been stored in the basement of the tiny community library.

“A Volunteer Book Sale Committee sorts through the thousands of books, touching each one and sorting them to strict criteria,” library Director Ellen O'Brien said.  “The books must be clean, in good condition and relatively new.  We try to only sell books that are less than 5 years old.”

The activity has already started at the library with the guys from the Department of Public Works stopping by early Thursday morning to carry all the boxes of donated books up from the basement to the waiting tents.  And there are a lot of boxes.  Director Ellen O’Brien is very grateful for the help these men provide every year with the book sale.  At great risk of head injury from the low ceiling in the basement, Erique, John, Larry, Allen and their pals carry the thousands of books up the stairs and onto trolleys to be wheeled out to the tents.

The books are divided into the two tents, with adult fiction and nonfiction in the front tent and children’s books in the rear tent.  DVDs and CDs will also be on sale for $1 each.

There is also a special group of collectable books which will be on sale just inside the library.  These books are hard to get or out of print.  They have been researched by library staff and found to be worth much more than the price the library is asking.  For example, the final work of Oscar Wilde, De Profundis is extremely hard to come by, however a hard cover copy in excellent condition will be on sale for $2-$5 inside the library.

A preview evening will held Friday, June 3 from 5 - 8 pm for Association Members of the library (nonmembers $5).  The book sale will begin in earnest in Saturday June 4 from 10 am to 4 pm.

Adult books:

Popular...$2

Hardcover...$1

Paperbacks...$.50

Childrens Books:

Hardcover...$.50

Paperback...$.25