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The printed word is still king at Little City Used Book Sale

Posted June 03, 2009 11:00 pm

Daily Herald Staff Report

The book sale tent is set up on the west side of the Westfield Old Orchard Shopping Center in Skokie. Photo courtesy Little City

One of the biggest used book sales in the Chicago area kicks off Friday outside the Westfield Old Orchard Shopping Center in Skokie. Formerly the Brandeis book fair, the sale has been the property of Little City for the past several years, and is a major fundraiser for the organization.

Larry Lundberg, a longtime worker for both Little City and Brandeis, gave some insight into the huge book collection.

Q. Where do the books come from?

Lundberg: From personal donations of people all across the Northwest and Northern suburbs, and Chicago. Some companies, such as Zurich, have held book drives for us and collected thousands of books. We have nine drop-off locations throughout the suburbs where people can donate their books. If a person has more than 150 books to donate, we will pick them up at the person's home or business.

Q. How many people are charged with going through all the donated books? What are they doing, exactly?

Lundberg: Along with several Little City residents who are employed in the Book Warehouse on Little City's Palatine campus, we have a core group of about 30 people who volunteer nearly every week. We also have several groups and companies who send up to 12 volunteers at a time to come throughout the year and help with book sorting.

The first thing our volunteers do is separate the hardcover books from the softcover books. They then are trained how to sort the books into the 70 different categories. This is not as easy as it seems - for example, a biography isn't just a biography. A biography on Abraham Lincoln would go under our "Presidents" category, while a biography on Donald Trump would go in "Business." A sorter has to determine the best category for that book to be placed and where it most likely will sell. We then price the books, and finally box them up by the different categories. The boxes are then stored and brought to the sale.

Q. Do they ever find things people have left behind in books?

Lundberg: People not only leave things in books, but they also will leave items in the boxes they've brought the books in. We will find things like family albums, individual photos and small clothing items. It's like they cleaned out their attic and didn't pay attention to what they put in each box. If we know who the person is who brought in the box, we will try and contact them to return the items.

In the books themselves, we often find things like money, savings bonds, graduation checks that are outdated, gift certificates and letters. Basically, anything you could put in a book, we've found.

Q. What's the most unusual book you ever found? (if there's a story, go ahead and tell it)

Lundberg: First of all, it's amazing what people write about and get published. One book, and I don't remember the title, was about making choices, but it was about making a choice between crazy things, like would you rather sit on a fire ant hill or eat broken glass? This was what the whole book was about - making absurd choices - and many of them were downright grotesque.

Q. What's the most unusual thing you ever found inside a book?

Lundberg: The most unusual thing wasn't in a book but was in a box with books. There was a video of a husband and wife - at least I hope they were married! - engaging in some "romantic moments" while they were staying at the Sybaris. They apparently wanted to videotape their escapades. I have a feeling one of them wanted to throw it out and put it in the wrong box!

On the tamer side, many years ago (in the Brandeis days), we found a letter inside a book that was signed by Henry Kissinger. We eventually auctioned it off to a museum.

Q. What is your biggest collection this year?

Lundberg: A. Our Children's section is by far the biggest, followed by cookbooks, religion, mysteries and fiction.

Q. What does this book fair tell you about the popularity of the printed word?

Lundberg: Based upon how many people attend our Book Sale or other events like this, the popularity of books is still very high. With the Internet today, there is definitely a lot of access to information, but I think people still like to curl up in a comfortable chair or in bed and read a good book.

Some people may be worried about the "younger generation's" interest in reading books, but based upon how many of them are buying all these vampire books, if the books are interesting, people will buy it.

Q. What is the key to running a successful book fair?

Lundberg: You need to have both quality and quantity in your book selection, along with reasonable prices. It also takes knowledgeable and friendly people.

Q. What do you do with the books that aren't sold?

Lundberg: We keep all of the collector books that are left over, and sometimes we will keep some of the hardcover selection. The rest of the books are either donated to other nonprofit organizations, or will be sold to other book sellers who pay per pound. We also allow some groups, like the Boy Scouts, to come through and select any books they would like.

Q. Anything else you want to say?

Lundberg: The Little City Used Book Sale is a year-round effort, and we can always use more volunteers and book donations. We thank everyone who helps with the sale, which results in proceeds that are used to support children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities at Little City.

Shoppers pore over the tables at the 2008 Little City Used Book Fair. Photo courtesy Little City

Larry Lundberg takes a short break from stacking books inside the sale tent. Photo courtesy Little City

2009 Little City Used Book Sale Details courtesy of Julee Schmaus, marketing manager for business development at Little City. Where: West side of Westfield Old Orchard Shopping Center, Skokie Blvd. and Dempster Street, Skokie. Hours: June 5: 5-10 p.m. June 6: 10 a.m.-9 p.m. June 8-11: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. June 12-13: 10 a.m.-9 p.m. June 14: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission: $10 donation on Friday, June 5. All other days free. Parking: A large lot directly south of the main tent and there and a tiered garage adjacent to the Book Sale tents, both on the west side of the mall. Friday's opening night event: A short "welcome" ceremony, featuring Little City Executive Director Shawn Jeffers, Little City Board member and "Mayor" Rob Samson and board member Brian Bernardoni, book sale chairman. Sale itself is 5-10 p.m. What do you hope to raise? $200,000. The book sale is our third largest fundraiser, behind our Little City Invitational Golf Tournament (in August) and our anniversary dinner (in November). How many books? More than 200,000, 95 percent used. About 60,000 hardcovers and 140,000 paperbacks. Prices: Most fall in the $3-$5 range. Some specialty books (art books, coffee table books, etc.) are priced slightly higher. Children's books are 50 cents unless otherwise marked, while mystery, romance and fiction paperbacks are $1. All books are in clean, pristine condition.

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