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Friends of the Cape Coral Library Spring Book Sale starts Thursday

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Books, books and more books will be available for grabs next week at the Cape Coral Library. Hosted by the Friends of the Cape Coral Library, the annual Spring Book Sale will kick off Thursday from 3 to 5:30 p.m. for a members’ only preview. For just $10, people can join the club at the door.

“You get the first choice,” Paula Novander, secretary of the Friends, said. “People are in line.”

The sale continues Friday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for the public.

“Hundreds of people come,” she said. “It’s the largest one (book sale) in Lee County, definitely.”

There will be more than an estimated 8,000 books for sale, including books on CD, CDs and DVDs.

“The books are mostly donated from the public,” Novander said, adding that they are not borrowed books from the library that are worn. “We get all kinds of old books and new beautiful books.”

The topics range from fiction and cooking or gardening, to self help, history and military.

“We usually get a lot of German fiction,” she said.

Some of the unique finds for this sale include a few signed Randy Wayne White novels.

“You just never know what you’re going to find,” Novander said.

Hardcovers are $2 each, large softcovers are $1 a piece and small paperbacks are only 75 cents.

There are regular and children’s DVDs available, as well as a variety of musical CDs. For this sale, someone donated approximately 200 classical CDs. The DVDs and CDs cost a few dollars each.

“You can’t beat the prices,” she said.

The sales at the Cape Coral Library are also known for being extremely well organized.

“You’re not looking through everything for that one quilting book,” Novander said. “We really work hard on sorting the books.”

Proceeds from the sale benefit the Friends of the Cape Coral Library and their programs.

“It directly support the library here,” she said. “It is our biggest fundraiser.”

The Friends of the Cape Coral Library use the funds to provide a mix of special programs for children, teens and adults. It covers the magicians, jugglers and puppet programs for children at the Summer Reading events. It also pays for refreshments and prizes for additional library programs.

“We do a lot of the programming,” Novander said. “We are very fortunate to be able to.”

The club also helps with storage and capital equipment and improvements to library. Last fall, the Friends of the Cape Coral Library provided more than $20,000 worth of audio and visual equipment.

The club organizes the Art Gallery exhibits, and it helps maintain the Butterfly Garden.

“If you love your library, for $10 support it,” she said of the membership fee.

The different costs for an annual membership to the Friends of the Cape Coral Library are $10 for individuals, $15 for a family, $50 for a civic benefactor and $100 for a corporate benefactor.

The club also hosts a second book sale in November – the annual Fall Book Sale.

“We don’t keep recycling the old books from the previous sale,” Novander said of the inventory for sale. “You’re not going to see the same old thing. It’s always new every six months.”

Donations to the book sales are appreciated. Leave a message on the hotline at 239-349-2572 to schedule a donation pick up, or small quantities can be left at the library’s circulation desk.

The Friends of the Cape Coral Library meet on the third Saturday of January, March, September and November at the library. Social begins at 9:30 a.m., following by a 10 a.m. meeting and program.

For more information, call 239-349-2572 or visit capefriends.org.

The Cape Coral Library is at 921 S.W. 39th Terrace.