CULLMAN, Ala. – Looking to purchase books but not spend a fortune? The Cullman County Public Library downtown has ongoing used book sales. These sales include everything from children’s books to cookbooks, magazines and CDs.
Staff said bigger sales usually happen during major local events or when the library gets a lot of donated items. “We love people that want to donate books, but sometimes they’re older or we can’t catalog them,” Library Aide Raegen Lindsey explained. “This just kind of clears up space so we can keep accepting donations.”
Some of the bigger recent sales took place during community events like the Alabama Strawberry Festival and Christkindlmarkt. The library does not follow a set schedule for these sales, but it often shares updates about upcoming sales on its social media pages. Most items at the sales come from community donations. Some books and materials are also removed from the library’s collection because they are old, damaged or not checked out very often.
Shoppers will find a wide range of materials at the sales, such as children’s books, fiction, cookbooks, magazines and music CDs. Staff said that encyclopedias and old digest collections are usually not part of the sales. The library recently added CDs to the sales as staff prepare space for about 200 new audiobook and book-on-CD donations that will soon be available to check out.
Sales revenue helps pay for new library materials, building upkeep and the library’s ongoing building fund. Lindsey said the library hopes the sales will not only raise money, but also encourage people to see it as a friendly, welcoming place for everyone with plenty of free resources.
“Libraries are third spaces,” she said, “so we don’t want anybody to feel like they have to purchase anything to feel welcome.”
Sale items are 50 cents, or shoppers can fill a bag for $3. Staff often help visitors fit as much as possible into their bags. While there is no major book sale happening currently, the library keeps two book sale racks in the computer lab area. These racks are restocked frequently as items sell.
The downtown Cullman County Public Library is located at 200 Clark St. NE. Find more info at www.cullmanlib.org or www.facebook.com/cullmancountypubliclibrarysystem.
