Wake County Public Libraries stops annual book sales, for now
The gigantic book sales hosted by Wake County Public Libraries at the State Fairgrounds each May have ended, at least for now.
Book lovers who look forward to the annual sales know you can't beat the prices or the ability to shop up to 200,000 books and media.
At previous events, prices started at $4 for hardbound books and $2 for paperbacks, children's books and media, with prices dropping each day of the weekend-long sale. By the final day, shoppers could take home boxes of books for $3.
The event was canceled in 2020 and funding was cut in 2021 all due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but even once large gatherings can be held safely again, Deputy Library Director Ann Burlingame said it's unclear whether the sale will return.
According to Burlingame, the sales are extremely expensive to produce, costing the library around $200,000 each year, and not all the expenses were recouped in the sale. When the county was forced to make budget cuts during the pandemic, Wake County Public Libraries began using ThriftBooks, an online vendor, to sell their surplus books instead.
Allowing ThriftBooks to manage the sale is "more efficient and less costly," Burlingame said, explaining the library uses far less labor and makes more money from the books by going virtual.
Although she loves the sale, Burlingame explained the cost to have the annual sale adds up quickly, including costs for things like book storage, facility rentals and external labor. The sale also requires many hours of staff time to both prepare and run the sale, and the library hires movers to load boxes of books onto pallets and transport them to the fairgrounds, she said.
ThriftBooks manages all the surplus books regardless of condition thus eliminating the need to pay for recycling.
"They'll take everything," Burlingame said.
Most of the books donated to Wake County Public Libraries through the years are gifts from the community.
"No one wants to throw away a book, which is great," Burlingame said, but some of the donated books are in too poor condition to sell. ThriftBooks will shred and recycle those at no charge to the library.
The library is making more money since moving to ThriftBooks, and that helps fund county programs and services.
ThriftBooks recently sold one book for $138, a rare copy of "Starliners," which Burlingame said her staff wouldn't have recognized.
"We just wouldn't know [it's rare]. That isn't our expertise," she said.
Burlingame knows the sales are special and said the library supports the idea of bringing a book sale back in the future, although it may look different.
"The thing about the book sale is it really is something the community enjoys," she said. "The library is part of keeping these books alive, giving them a second life."
Ashley DeMichele, a mother of two, is one person who will miss the event. She has been to the sale several times and loved that it featured books from multiple libraries she couldn't find elsewhere.
"You just kind of walked along the tables and looked for books you were interested in," she said. "You really don't get an opportunity to look at that many books."
DeMichele has purchased books from ThiftBooks. She likes the website but hopes the in-person sale will eventually be held again.
"I always have a list of books I want to buy that I keep in my wallet," she said. "I probably went two or three times during one sale, in case there was something I missed. I think I will definitely miss just knowing that those books are available to me and searching through the books."
DeMichele also appreciated the crowds at the event, saying she hopes it will encourage her son to read.
"When we went to these book sales, there was so many people, it showed him that a lot of people enjoy books and that books are never ending -- it's not just something you do as a kid," she said.
