Every year about this time, the AAUW puts on a book sale. I go every year. This year, the local TV crew interviewed me for about five minutes. But they only used 10 seconds! Fame is fleeting! Check out the video below!
Hundreds pack enormous book sale
http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/erie/hundreds-pack-enormous-book-sale
You’re famous! Did you mention the 30,000 books in your basement? Any great finds?
We used to have one but I think the women got too old to continue it.
Jeff, fame is fleeting. I did mention my SUNY at Buffalo Kelley Collection. But I also said book sales like this will be gone in five years because of the dramatic switch to ebooks.
Patti, the average age of the folks running the sale was in the 60s. Same with the buyers.
A star is born!
But you and Patti said exactly what I was thinking: the median age of the book buyers was certainly 40-plus. Sadly, another community event that is gradually slipping away. I see the same thing when I go to our local Friends of the Library Sale–frequently, I’m one of the youngest people there…and I was born the day Sputnik was launched!
Deb, most of my students opt for the ebook version of our textbooks. Printed books are going the way of the dinosaur.
Deb, you’re still young compared to the rest of us!
One of the guys seen fleetingly looked a bit like Bill Crider…had he been going through Gold Medals, we would have an almost certain improbable spotting…
Trust me, Todd, there were no Gold Medals at this sale. Very few vintage paperbacks found their way into this sale. But, there were a ton of hardcovers. And they were ORGANIZED!
Print is better. Better for school, highlighting notes, post- it to mark specific pages. Plus if you don’t like it you can sell it back at the end of the semester. I have couple e books for enjoyment but I prefer to turn the pages myself.
Looking great, George. Looks like you had a handful of books by the time they talked to you, so I hope you’ll share with us a list of what you got. As for your comment to Deb, if that’s the case, long live the dinosaurs. When the population starts going blind from reading ebooks on small screens, they’ll regret their “that’s cool so I want to do it too” mindset. Back to the sale, was there a lot of SF-F and mystery?
Rick, there was a whole table of STAR WARS and STAR TREK novels (plus whole tables devoted to Danielle Steele, James Patterson, John Grisham, Stephen King, Janet Evanovich, and Tom Clancy) so there were plenty of books for people who just read best sellers. The SF and Fantasy table held few treasures, but I did manage to buy First Editions of Robert Aickerman’s COLD HAND IN MINE and PAINTED DEVILS. I also scooped up a couple handfuls of A.E. Van Vogt paperbacks (just reading copies).
It’s been at least a decade since our library did this.
Bob, this sort of massive book sale–100,000 books!–will become a thing of the past.
That was fun! Sorry they didn’t use much of your interview. I did pause it to try to decipher what books you were holding.
Carl, the five minute interview WIVB did with me would have been more fun, but this 10-second snippet will have to do. My armful of books were mostly science fiction hardcovers.
I’m glad I wasn’t there!
Prashant, the NY TIMES gave UNDER THE DOME close to a rave review.
I am not surprised that only a small clip of your interview was shown. I am guessing that they already had a planned narrative, and you threw them off by attempting to talk about anything more than that day’s event.
I agree with Amanda’s comment (I wonder how she found out about your blog?). I prefer hard copies for text books. I only purchased one e-book in all of my time as a student, and that was because I had procrastinated and needed a copy of the book right away. E-books, however, are better for the environment, so I have mixed feelings about them.