Booking at the Schenectady County New York Public Library Sale. Part One

An Early Venture into the World of Library Sales

The following article first appeared in The Sunday Gazette (Schenectady, New York) on May 16, 1993. After attending the Spring 2008 Schenectady County Public Library Sale, I have decided I will probably never go back. Read the companion piece

, written a year after this one, and confirmed by yesterday's sale, to find out why.

Ordinarily, book lovers are a tame bunch. Put them in a dungeon with only crusts of bread to eat and water to drink, and they will be happy as long as you keep them supplied with books. There is one time, however, when they undergo a personality change, and that is when their sensitive noses pick up the mildly mildewed scent of a used book sale.

While the change is not as drastic as Dr. Jekyll turning into to Mr. Hyde or vice-versa, it is noticeable. At least it was at the semi-annual Schenectady County Public Library sale, which my son and I attended on May 1. Nobody camped overnight to be the first to purchase several thousand books at fifty cents each for hard covers and a quarter each for soft covers. Nor was there any odor of marijuana in the air, but the line that formed before the doors opened bore a certain resemblance to Dead-heads lining up for concert tickets. Possibly Russians queuing up for food would be a better comparison or maybe horses at Saratoga: antsy, nervous, waiting for the gates to open.

When the gates did open, you could tell who the veterans of the library sale were. They came with bags and boxes and already knew the shortest route to that spot in the McChesney Room where their favorite genre of books was located. Most of the veterans filled their boxes and bags in a matter of minutes, even seconds. While no one got trampled, a certain amount of decorum was temporarily suspended as book lovers of all sizes, shapes and ages reached around and across each other; dodging flying elbows, ignoring smelly armpits; and grabbing books as if they were hundred-dollar bills. Buyers with long arms had a definite advantage.