|
The Friends'
Bookstore
Hard Work & Perseverance Pay Off - For the Library
Not only does the Friends of the Library supply its members to serve as
volunteers in the library itself, but for many years the FoL has operated a full-time Bookstore
with members volunteering their services. The Bookstore was a natural outgrowth of annual or
twice-a-year special used book sales either held outdoors or in borrowed space for a day or two
at a time. Most Friends of the Library groups throughout the nation still operate this way.
But the super support of the community, through donations of thousands of books,
magazines, and records from generous county residents, convinced the FoL Board that a Bookstore
would work. It opened in June 1990 in the old Angel Drug Store on Main Street in rent-free space.
It was open three or four days a week with limited hours during the middle of the year and closed
for the winter.
However, the Friends had to vacate the store in October 1991, and the used
books were put into storage while a frantic search for a new site was made over the winter. In the
spring of 1992, at the suggestion of Donna Heater of the commercial bookstore Books Unlimited,
the FoL approached the Atlanta management firm of Gregory Realty Co., managers of the Westgate
Plaza Shopping Center (where Kmart is located), about getting free store space. The firm agreed,
and with frenzied activity by Friends volunteers, the new store opened on April 18, 1992. It
proved very successful.
But all good things eventually come to an end. The Friends lost its four-year free
lease in Westgate Plaza July 31, 1996, and once again books had to be moved to storage. A small
portion of the inventory was set up in a temporary location in the unfinished lower level of the
Public Library building.
Under the leadership of President Margaret Andrews and Treasurer Cookie Paquette,
the FoL Board made the momentous decision to start paying rent for the Bookstore and thus a search
was launched for an appropriate site. It turned out to be the present site in the East Franklin
Shopping Center, now owned by Joe and Jane Wright of Flat Rock, N.C. The new store opened with much
fanfare on Jan. 6, 1997, and has produced much more revenue for the Public Library than ever
before, even with the extra expense of rent and associated operational costs.
And it now has become a Friends' Bookstore tradition to hold a big two-day sale
each January to celebrate the anniversary of the new full-time Bookstore's opening.
For the dedicated staff of the Macon County Public Library, support from the
Friends of the Library has helped make the difference between operating an adequate Public Library
and an outstanding one.
It is generally accepted that our Public Library system is excellent, especially
for a county our size. Our library has kept abreast of the fast-moving technological advances in
information handling by making sure that modern computer systems and Internet connections are made
available to all. Our nonprofit Friends of the Library contributions have played a major role in
making this happen.
So when you visit the Friends' Bookstore now, be aware of all the hard work and
struggle over the years that have gone into continuing a 30-year-old tradition of selling used
books to benefit the local Public Library.
The Friends of the Library Bookstore
Whether you are a member or not, we invite you to visit our Bookstore at
121 Highlands Road in the East Franklin Shopping Center. The Bookstore is open Monday through
Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Bookstore has a wide range of used volumes covering the gamut of
literary endeavor: from fiction to textbooks, from romance novels to travel books, from history
to poetry, and from classics to humor.
Please come visit! Remember: you're helping the Macon County Public Library
with every purchase.
|
