Last week, Friends of the Library at NC State held its annual book sale in the Brickyard. From Monday to Friday, students could be seen browsing the collections inside its large white tent, picking from a wide variety of books, some of which were priced at as little as $1.
Throughout the year, NCSU Libraries collects books for the sale from anonymous donors at its loading dock, open every weekday from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at D.H. Hill. According to Allison Hughes, university program associate for Friends of the Library, over 770 boxes of books were contributed to the sale this year.
“Overall, it went really well,” Hughes said. “I don’t know exactly how many got sold … I’d say we went through at least three-fourths of what we brought over. We don’t have final numbers yet, but last year we raised over $16,000.”
Hughes said she estimates that the library was able to raise approximately the same amount this year. Friends of the Library hosts a number of events throughout the year, including Hunt Library After Dark, their annual technology exhibition, and a campus art tour on Saturday, May 18, with the book sale being one of their largest fundraising events of the year.
The sale was well-liked by students who stopped in to see what was available. Nate Guilfoyle, a second-year studying environmental technology and management, said he was surprised by its popularity.
“So many books have been bought,” Guilfoyle said. “It’s great that so many people are so interested in still reading instead of just scrolling the internet.”
Monday presented a special opportunity for Friends of the Library members to pick out books they wanted before anybody else; the sale did not open to the public until Tuesday. The half-price sale was on Wednesday, and Thursday and Friday were what the staff called “bag day,” where students could purchase a red bag for just $5 and fill it with as many books as they liked.
NC State students weren’t the only buyers at the book sale, however. The sale was open to non-students, staff and the surrounding area.
“I think there are people that come in from the community the first couple days looking for very specific things,” Hughes said. “Antique dealers, things like that, people who own bookstores, they’ll come in and look for very specific things, so they usually come like Monday, Tuesday, and are very exclusive. They’re looking for special stuff, whereas bag day we just get a ton of foot traffic, and people are just filling it up.”
While rare book hunters and others with special interests do appear at the sale, it is not widely known to the general public. Sydney Marks, a junior at Enloe High School, said she encountered the book sale incidentally while on NC State’s campus. Marks attended on its last day, when the majority of books had already been bought.
“I was actually here [Thursday], filming a project for my Spanish class,” Marks said. “I wish it was publicized more, because I would have come earlier.”
Hughes said the book sale should return next April, though renovations to D.H. Hill might alter its current format. Students can join the Friends of the Library for free online on the NCSU Libraries website or at one of the organization’s events, while others may join by making a donation to the group.
Paperback nonfiction books stand on display at the Frank B. Armstrong Memorial Book Sale, which took place on The Brickyard from Monday, April 8 through Friday, April 12. Sales went toward funding NCSU Libraries.
