Published: October 27, 2009 11:54 am      

Fall festival to be more than a book sale

Hunting for a first edition Agatha Christie or long-lost set of 1953 Encyclopedia Britannicas?

Be aware of the annual Cleburne Public Library Fall Festival, which includes a book sale, Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the library.

Other events include a chili supper, raffle and silent auction. The raffle’s feature item will be a handmade quilt donated by a member of Friends of the Library.

The book sale is in its third year, said librarian Tina Williams, and continues to grow in volume and popularity.

“It’s been pretty successful,” she said. “We’ve always had a fall book sale, but we didn’t have any food or other activities with it. We got to thinking of ways to jazz it up and get more people to come to something that’s not expensive. It’s a good way for families to socialize and have fun.”

The books come from various sources — book lovers cleaning out shelves and attics, librarians setting aside remainders duplicate copies of items.

“Some are donations, and some are books we’ve weeded out of the collection just because they’re old or we have two or three copies,” Williams said. “A lot are in pretty good condition. We get a lot of best-sellers and how-to books.”

Some are of more monetary value than the person donating may realize.

“We have people who come to the sale to look for things as soon as we open at 10,” Williams said. “You can find some real treasures. We’ve got boxes for this year’s sale that we haven’t had time to go through yet. I know we’ve had donations of quite a few Texas history books and some books on [Lyndon Baines Johnson]. We’ll have a pretty good cookbook selection. The number of books varies from year to year. It will probably be several hundred.

“If they’re books that have been in the book sale about three times, we try to find somewhere else for them to go. We can take softcover books out to the jail.”

Prices vary, Williams said.

“Hardbacks are $1 and paperbacks 50 cents. Children’s books are all altogether. They’re 50 cents. Best sellers may be anywhere from $2 to $5. It just depends on what we have.”

Proceeds go to Friends of the Library and the library board.

“They spend it on library programs, furniture, computers, children’s programs and things that are not covered by our regular budget,” Williams said.

Current projects are children’s and teen programming.

“Our new children’s librarian, Becky Morse, is trying to get a teen program going,” Williams said. “That’s an age group that kind of falls through the cracks. We do lot of programs for our elementary and preschool kids. Becky started here in May. She’d like to get a teen board down here, a group of teens to help us pick out books they’d like to read and do book reviews. This would be a place for them to meet and have activities. We don’t have that right now, and that’s something we’d really like to do.”

The library continues to be popular with genealogy and history groups.

“We’re trying to get some more databases that people can access on our Web site when they’re at home,” Williams said. “Everything is getting more computer oriented. Genealogy volunteers come down here each week and help us with information. We usually get any type of local history book that comes out.

“We’re looking to purchase a microfilm machine that hooks up to a PC. You can take all old microfilm like newspapers, bring them up on the PC and cut and paste parts of various newspapers. You can save it and e-mail it. Right now, we have to do that in two or three steps. That machine runs about $10,000. That’s a project. Another project we’re working on is sending off some of the old microfilm that’s damaged or in bad shape and having it refilmed. That’s not too expensive, about $75 a roll. A company in Hurst does that.”

Because of its research tools, the library receives numerous genealogy-related requests.

“People are searching for family members, and they have limited information,” Williams said. “We find bits and pieces and get back with them. We hear all sorts of interesting stories. We have a genealogy database we’ve begun subscribing to. We’ve got newspapers, funeral home records, census records ... .”

There are about 75 active members of Friends of the Library.

“Friends is a group that assists us with various things such as the book sale and chili supper,” Williams said. “They meet four times a year. We usually meet in the evenings so people who work during the day can attend. Friends of the Library is something that needs to grow.”

Membership is $15 or $10 for students

The library is a popular place these days. Cubicles and chairs fill up fast.

“I attribute that to the economy,” Williams said. “People are looking for free stuff to do. You can check out books and videos for free. People come here for Internet access. We were swamped this summer, which is great. I love to see people heading back to this resource.”