There’s nothing like the feeling of holding a book you’ve been seeking, whether it’s found on the shelf of a library or at a book sale.
I realize there are those who don’t share this sense of joy over books. The idea of allocating space in their homes for bookshelves, much less a personal library, is senseless to them.
If you’re among this crowd you can stop reading this column.
To be sure, there are legions of book lovers out there. This was evidenced by last week’s return of the Berks Book Bonanza.
The largest book sale in the county was coming off a two-year hiatus. It had been without a home to store the tens of thousands of books and other materials it collects for the three-day bonanza.
Proceeds from the sale are split evenly between the Friends of Berks County Libraries and the local branch of the American Association of University Women.
After outgrowing its space in the Berks County Public Libraries headquarters in Bern Township, the sale moved to space within the VF Outlet Village in Wyomissing then, for a couple of years, in a vacant storefront in the Berkshire Mall. Between sales, the materials were stored in numerous locations in the county.
Book Bonanza was a victim of its own success.
To the gratitude of many, the Berks County commissioners came to the rescue, approving a five-year agreement in April to host the nonprofit Book Bonanza at the county government’s new South Campus in Mohnton. The recently renovated warehouse provides nearly 10,000 square feet for storage and display of books, audiovisual materials, games and jigsaw puzzles.
A line of people, many carrying reusable shopping bags, rushed in for the opening day when the doors opened at 10 a.m. on Sept. 20.
I arrived a little more than two hours after that. I invited my 22-year-old son to come along, showing him the Berks Book Bonanza ad in the Reading Eagle.
He quickly agreed, seeing it was an opportunity to add to his collection of Rick Riordan “Percy Jackson” novels and a couple of other works of fiction.
My search parameters were also narrow: English rock star bios and C.S. Lewis’ writings on Christianity.
We brought neither shopping bags nor boxes. I learned from previous sales that you can easily go overboard, even though $2 for a hardcover book is a bargain by any measure.
With books arranged neither alphabetically nor by author, it’s truly a treasure hunt. Although it can be a source of frustration, it’s also part of the appeal.
We didn’t find everything we were looking for, but the hunt was a success. Amid the biographies I found two on former U.S. presidents — John Adams and Thomas Jefferson — that I look forward to reading.
One thing I’ve noticed is that people leave the Book Bonanza the same way they enter — with a smile on their face.
Good luck finding that on a golf course.
Source: Berkshire mont