Bookworms will face an overwhelming buffet of choices this week at the St. Charles City-County Library District Friends of the Library 2011 Book Fair.
"We have absolutely tons of stuff," said Jan Bardon, communications specialist with the library district. "There's an estimated 250,000 items. We took about 90 pallets of books to the convention center for the 2010 fair. This year, they have 120 pallets loaded and ready to go, which translates to anywhere from 1,300-1,500 more boxes of books in 2011."
Part of the reason for the increase in books is that the library district was unable to have a midyear book fair like it typically does, Bardon said. In order to help move all this material, this year's book fair will begin on Thursday instead of the traditional Friday.
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"That's the big thing, we decided to add an extra day this year, because we have so many items," Bardon said.
Sponsored and organized by the Friends of the Library, the 2011 Book Fair will run Thursday, June 2, to Sunday, June 5 at the St. Charles Convention Center, One Convention Center Plaza, St. Charles.
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Each day has its own set of rules. On Thursday the event runs from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Admission costs $10 or a Friends Membership if paid for by May 31. Children 12 and younger are admitted free. "We put all the best books out on the first day," Bardon said.
"It's always interesting on the first day," she added. "We'll have hundreds waiting to get in. When the doors open, we get out of the way as the people rush in."
On Friday and Saturday the event will run from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and admission is free.
On Sunday the fair will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and admission is free. On this last day, people will be able to fill standard size grocery bags full of books for $5 on most items. Bags will be provided on site.
"It's always crowded first thing, and then on Sunday it's packed again because we're only charging $5 for a bag of books," Bardon said.
The library district plans to fill the almost 30,000 square feet of convention hall space with more than 250,000 items, including hardback and paperback books, records, CDs, DVDs and magazines. Books are divided into around 40 categories, the most popular being cookbooks, crafts, science fiction and children's and teen's books.
Most hardbacks are sold for $2, regular size paperbacks are 50 cents and oversize paperbacks $1. All children’s and teen books are sold for 25 cents. Magazines are 10 cents. VHS tapes and books on tape are individually priced. Some very old books, reference materials and special items are priced separately.
Seventy percent of the books at the fair are donated with the other 30 percent coming from the library shelves--duplicates or titles that are no longer in heavy circulation. "We like to weed them out to make room for new books on the shelves," Bardon said.
Last year's fair grossed just less than $90,000 and hopes are for a bigger payday this year. All the money raised goes directly back to the library to fund programs, construction, scholarships and other functions.
No books will be left behind. On Sunday the leftovers will be donated to nonprofit organizations who show up after 2:30 p.m. Nonprofits interested in the leftover items should contact Lisa Dunham at 441-2300 ext. 1583 prior to the fair.
If you would like to volunteer to assist with the book fair, call Dunham or email her at ldunham@stchlibrary.org.