Books that Pay

Do you own some rare books? I'm talking about first editions, anniversary editions, and out of print editions. Those of us who are book lovers have probably bought a few books over time. We brought them lovingly to our homes and happily read them. And then, they got relegated to the back of our bookshelves and ultimately forgotten until we do a deep cleaning.

The deep cleaning of my bookshelves happened last summer. It was well past time to part with a number of books that went untouched for years. They took up space with little, if any, justification. The "common" books I no longer used (paperbacks, popular fiction, and easily obtained non-fiction) went to a local library's book sale, and hopefully, they will be enjoyed by others. There were some books in my personal collection, however, that were more rare.

One such book I had was a collector's edition of Christopher Paolini's Eragon, which was published with a faux leather cover in 2013. I picked it up on sale for a few dollars in a bookstore some years ago, thinking it was a nice copy to have or give as a gift to someone. Fast forward to the present: my husband put the book up for sale on eBay and it sold...for 400 dollars! Now it's on its way to Italy to make some reader in Europe happy (I know it made me happy!).

The lesson to be learned--you never know what treasures (literary and financial) may be hidden on your bookshelves. Who knows? You may even have tucked away a first edition of the first book in the Harry Potter series.

Wishing you happy book experiences (rare and otherwise) from the perch.

FREE Books to Keep--No Kidding!

You read that right! The library is giving away FREE books! Now that those bills are coming in after the holidays, anything free probably sounds good at this point. To clarify, I'm not talking about books you can check out and borrow from the library; I'm talking about books you can take home and keep forever and ever!

You may be wondering what this is all about. Well, if you didn't know, our library has a Free Shelf with adult, teen, and children's books. Occasionally, we even have DVDs, CDs, and books in different languages. What we have on the shelves keeps changing, so the offerings always stay fresh.

How can we give away books for free? Often, we get donations from patrons who are cleaning out their homes or moving. Children and teens may outgrow some books, adults may no longer need textbooks and other materials. If our library is unable to add items to our collection, we put them on our Free Shelf for others to take and enjoy.

So, come on over and help yourself to things on our Free Shelf. Take some for yourself, your kids, and your friends. Got a holiday or birthday coming up for a book lover? Get a gift without spending a dime (don't worry--it's our secret!). Just please don't take items from the library's collection without checking them out first.

Wishing you and yours many good reads from the perch.