Speaking Volumes: Books of every description available at Central Library’s bookstore

On a rolling chair in the back room of the Central Library’s used bookstore in downtown Bradenton, library carts are loaded with books of every description.

I am the store’s manager, and I’m doing what I have done every week for the past 6 years — sorting through the print and audio books, CDs, DVDs and puzzles that have been culled from the library’s collection or donated by generous library patrons.

Semi-annual book sales used to be the primary source of income for the Friends of the Central Library. But when the library realized that there was an underused area big enough to provide a bookstore, they offered it to the Friends of the Central Library.

Now patrons can shop almost any day the library is open.

In an adjacent room, book-loving volunteers staff the library’s one-room store. And they love their jobs.

In addition to ringing up sales, they keep the store clean, maintain the collection, shelve new offerings and happily engage in conversations about what they and their customers are reading.

The store’s offerings are well organized, with large mystery and general fiction sections and non-fiction from history to crafts and travel to cookbooks, as well as CDs, DVDs and more. There are books for children and young adults too.

The bookstore generally maintains library hours, and the workers contribute about 3,000 hours a year, keeping annual costs close to zero. Book prices are insanely low ($0.10 paperbacks, anyone?) since the guiding philosophy of the Friends is “to get the books into people’s hands.”

Many patrons are so surprised when they hear the small total on their purchases that they burst out laughing, add a donation or say “keep the change.”

But the sales add up. Since the bookstore’s opening in April 2012, proceeds total more than $80,000.

Along with memberships, other donations and grants, the store allows the Friends of the Central Library to fund many programs and projects not covered by Manatee County’s library budget.

Every year, library staff bring to the Friends a wide range of program requests, and the Friends are glad to help.

Thanks to their funding, Central Library patrons have enjoyed cooking demos, art classes, chess lessons and line dancing, flower arranging and origami demos and a writing workshop.

Mana-Con comic conventions, trivia nights and concerts in the library. The Friends also funded a complete renovation of the children’s department in 2009 and more recently a 3D printer and other technology for that department.

Carol Kolonay-Spangler, president of the Friends, says, “As a former educator, it is a real joy for me to be a member of a board that can fund such a variety of programs for all ages.”

Glenda Lammers, assistant library services manager, notes, “Programs for all ages, technology for our STEM lab and staff development are not funded through the library budget. So much of what we do for the community would not take place if we didn’t have such a vital Friends group.”

Speaking Volumes, written by Manatee County Public Library System staff members, is published each Sunday in the Bradenton Herald.

This story was originally published October 18, 2018 at 10:10 AM.