By Sue Moore
The book sale at the Vicksburg Library during the Old Car Festival, brings collectors to the front door who can’t wait to get in for the Friday morning June 11, opening each year. They want first crack at what donors have turned in during the past year, said Gail Reisterer, chairperson of the event that raises money for new children’s books at the library.
In 2015, sign outside actually brought April Bryan into the library out of curiosity to see what kind of books she could carry home with her. It was the end of a long hot day and Reisterer was just closing up shop with the help of her many volunteers. As it turns out Bryan was just passing through town, saw the activity and has been helping in the community ever since. She is a Western Michigan University graduate in library studies and has a master’s degree from Georgetown University studies in museum collections. Eventually she was hired as the part-time director of collections by the Vicksburg Historical Society and Reisterer was a big part of her sojourn in the village.
That is not unusual for the book sale as it brings in lots of folks, just looking for a good read that is not on their Nook or available as a used book on Amazon.com. So many people donate their used books to the sale that it takes the volunteers half a day a week to sort and assemble the many offerings. The usual price of a used book is 50 cents and on the final day (Monday), people line up to take a whole bag of books home with them for $1 per grocery bag.
The hours are 9 to 4 on Saturday, June 10 and regular library hours on the Friday before.