Thousands of reading enthusiasts descended upon the 17th annual Book Bonanza at the Fingerlakes Mall Sunday, searching the rows of titles, CDs and albums for a new intellectual escape.
Diane La Rue, the event's organizer, said the bonanza saw a higher-than-normal turnout of visitors for their Sunday fill-a-bag special, despite lower than expected sales on Saturday. The proceeds will provide funding for St. Joseph School in Auburn.
“(The shoppers) are pretty much cleaning us out, which is what we want,” La Rue said. “We had nearly 70,000 books to start, and all of which were donated by the community.”
Several shoppers struggled to carry their purchases, as books brimmed out the top of their bags while others clung to their overloaded packages in an effort to prevent the seams from ripping more than they already had.
Roopa Gupta, of Toronto, who was visiting family in the area, said if she ever had a chance to come to the sale again, she would plan to arrive earlier.
“I was hoping to buy some old knitting books but they were already gone by the time I got here,” said Gupta, who is a third grade teacher. “I often teach my kids about colonial America and the old British craft books about that period are more hands on. Back then people used stuff they could find, so the kids would learn how to improvise and use what's available. It also uses a lot of recycling from stuff in the environment, and that's important to me.”
Other people found books which offered hope and inspiration, such as Shari Waldron, of Port Byron, by tapping into their own personal experiences.
“I am just coming out of it, but this August it will be a full year since I had cancer,” Waldron said. “In the health and medical section I found some books about cancer and surviving cancer. It was a really rough trip for me and I feel sorry for anyone else that has to do it.”
The well-organized categories such as health and medicine, children's non-fiction and romance, made it easy for shoppers to find books that interested them, La Rue said.
“Our books are organized into 75 different categories,” La Rue said. “That's why people like us, we are very well organized. Other sales people go to may just have a couple categories.”
But as the sale ended, the loud metallic clang of an empty table's legs being folded away would sporadically echo through the mall's dining area as staff members consolidated the thinning selection of books, causing the categories to melt into each other.
The sale originally started with more than 30 tables full of books on Friday, with less than half of those tables remaining at 2 p.m. Sunday, said staff member Dave Leja, of Auburn.
“It just makes it easier for people to find books and for us to clean up and get out of here,” said Leja, as he helped his daughter, Mary Jane, remove an empty table. “The 8th graders are also getting paid $50 for doing the cleaning here today which will go towards their class trip next year. They also got paid $50 if they helped set up on Friday. They don't know where they are going to go yet, they voted on it just as they got out for summer.”
Staff writer Nate Robson can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 248 or nathan.robson@lee.net
“(The shoppers) are pretty much cleaning us out, which is what we want,” La Rue said. “We had nearly 70,000 books to start, and all of which were donated by the community.”
Several shoppers struggled to carry their purchases, as books brimmed out the top of their bags while others clung to their overloaded packages in an effort to prevent the seams from ripping more than they already had.
Roopa Gupta, of Toronto, who was visiting family in the area, said if she ever had a chance to come to the sale again, she would plan to arrive earlier.
“I was hoping to buy some old knitting books but they were already gone by the time I got here,” said Gupta, who is a third grade teacher. “I often teach my kids about colonial America and the old British craft books about that period are more hands on. Back then people used stuff they could find, so the kids would learn how to improvise and use what's available. It also uses a lot of recycling from stuff in the environment, and that's important to me.”
Other people found books which offered hope and inspiration, such as Shari Waldron, of Port Byron, by tapping into their own personal experiences.
“I am just coming out of it, but this August it will be a full year since I had cancer,” Waldron said. “In the health and medical section I found some books about cancer and surviving cancer. It was a really rough trip for me and I feel sorry for anyone else that has to do it.”
The well-organized categories such as health and medicine, children's non-fiction and romance, made it easy for shoppers to find books that interested them, La Rue said.
“Our books are organized into 75 different categories,” La Rue said. “That's why people like us, we are very well organized. Other sales people go to may just have a couple categories.”
But as the sale ended, the loud metallic clang of an empty table's legs being folded away would sporadically echo through the mall's dining area as staff members consolidated the thinning selection of books, causing the categories to melt into each other.
The sale originally started with more than 30 tables full of books on Friday, with less than half of those tables remaining at 2 p.m. Sunday, said staff member Dave Leja, of Auburn.
“It just makes it easier for people to find books and for us to clean up and get out of here,” said Leja, as he helped his daughter, Mary Jane, remove an empty table. “The 8th graders are also getting paid $50 for doing the cleaning here today which will go towards their class trip next year. They also got paid $50 if they helped set up on Friday. They don't know where they are going to go yet, they voted on it just as they got out for summer.”
Staff writer Nate Robson can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 248 or nathan.robson@lee.net
Citizen
Hot Jobs
New! Off the Menu
The Citizens' Say
Post your comment - click hereThere are No comments posted.