AURELIUS - Eighty thousand books can make for quite a bit of reading.
That's how many books are for sale at the 15th annual Book Bonanza this weekend at the Fingerlakes Mall.
The sale, being held to benefit St. Joseph's School, is a huge yearly affair that raises thousands of dollars to offset the school's operating costs, said Mary Jo Keba, one of the school's kindergarten teachers who helped organize the event.
“We prepare for this all year long,” Keba said at Saturday's sale. “We go through the thousands of books, sort them, and set them up here for sale.”
The Bonanza, which ran from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. Saturday, continues today from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The books, lined up on about a dozen long tables, took up most of the mall food court area adjacent to Bass Pro Shops.
And it needed all of the space. When the St. Joseph's staff opened for business, hundreds of people were queued up in a line that snaked all the way to J.C. Penny's at the far end of the mall.
Also helping organize and run the sale was Diane La Rue, the mother of two St. Joseph's alumni who has coordinated the Book Bonanza since its
inception in 1999.
“There were about 500 people lined up when we opened, and a line outside our Better Books room as well,” La Rue said.¯
The Better Books room, which sells more popular and hardcover books, is located in a corner of the mall next to Jo Ann Fabrics.
“Last year we had about 5,000 customers over the two days of the sale, and if we have that many this year, we'll of course be successful,” La Rue
said, marveling at how a relatively small community can contribute so much to their cause.
“This year we have about 80,000 books, which is unbelievable,” she said. “It's amazing that a community of about 40,000 people can donate so many books to us.”
La Rue said that preparing for the sale is an enormous task.¯
“I sort the books, then students, parents and volunteers bring all the books out from the storage room, set them up, and work the sale over the weekend,” she said.
“We sort the books into 60 categories, which is a lot,” La Rue said. “A lot of book sales don't do that, so it makes us unique.
“I think that's the thing people like so much about the Book Bonanza #)t he fact that they can find exactly what they're looking for,” she said.
¯¯¯¯Today's sale offers something special, the $2-a-Bag Sale.
“You give us two dollars, we give you a bag, and you can fill it up and go,” she said.
The sale, being held to benefit St. Joseph's School, is a huge yearly affair that raises thousands of dollars to offset the school's operating costs, said Mary Jo Keba, one of the school's kindergarten teachers who helped organize the event.
“We prepare for this all year long,” Keba said at Saturday's sale. “We go through the thousands of books, sort them, and set them up here for sale.”
The Bonanza, which ran from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. Saturday, continues today from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The books, lined up on about a dozen long tables, took up most of the mall food court area adjacent to Bass Pro Shops.
And it needed all of the space. When the St. Joseph's staff opened for business, hundreds of people were queued up in a line that snaked all the way to J.C. Penny's at the far end of the mall.
Also helping organize and run the sale was Diane La Rue, the mother of two St. Joseph's alumni who has coordinated the Book Bonanza since its
inception in 1999.
“There were about 500 people lined up when we opened, and a line outside our Better Books room as well,” La Rue said.¯
The Better Books room, which sells more popular and hardcover books, is located in a corner of the mall next to Jo Ann Fabrics.
“Last year we had about 5,000 customers over the two days of the sale, and if we have that many this year, we'll of course be successful,” La Rue
said, marveling at how a relatively small community can contribute so much to their cause.
“This year we have about 80,000 books, which is unbelievable,” she said. “It's amazing that a community of about 40,000 people can donate so many books to us.”
La Rue said that preparing for the sale is an enormous task.¯
“I sort the books, then students, parents and volunteers bring all the books out from the storage room, set them up, and work the sale over the weekend,” she said.
“We sort the books into 60 categories, which is a lot,” La Rue said. “A lot of book sales don't do that, so it makes us unique.
“I think that's the thing people like so much about the Book Bonanza #)t he fact that they can find exactly what they're looking for,” she said.
¯¯¯¯Today's sale offers something special, the $2-a-Bag Sale.
“You give us two dollars, we give you a bag, and you can fill it up and go,” she said.
