Book worms come out for library's first book sale in 20 years

Howling winds and rain didn’t stop bookworms from attending the second day of the Glen Cove Public Library’s book sale on Saturday, organized by the Friends of the Library.
The organization, a non-profit established in 1970, raised $1,600, surpassing their projected amount of $1,000. The two-day event was last held over 20 years ago, but resurfaced at the suggestion of Marissa Lee, chair of the Friends’ fundraising committee.
“Before we even finished setting up, there were people looking to purchase books and we didn’t even have our cash box ready, and they were handing us money,” Lee said about the prior day’s sale. “I was actually a little nervous that we weren’t gonna have any customers, but then it just took off.”
The friends’ are the liaison between the library and the community, serving the preschooler to the retiree, and are dedicated to supporting the activities and mission of the Glen Cove Public Library.
The Friends strive to enrich the resources of the library, as well as to express the public voice about its operation.

Some of their past accomplishments have been sponsoring lectures and concerts, the purchase of a piano for the community room, book and author luncheons, new public use computers and the co-sponsorship of the popular museum pass program. Coincidentally, the library had received an influx of donations a few weeks before the event.
Maria and her daughter Ava Buchholtz, a first grader in the city’s school district, found out about the book sale through flyers and posts on Facebook. The pair go to the library on Saturdays to spend quality time together while picking out their favorite books for Ava’s reading chart.
When Ava meets her reading goals, she gets heart shaped stickers. When she meets her next reading goal, she will earn a Furby,
Edd Schlee, better known by his stage name Eddie Havoc, says he loves to read while on tour with his band Media Crimes. The self described read-a-holic says he and his wife frequent the library as much as they can. His favorite genres are science fiction, history and biographies. He said he appreciates libraries because they’re a free resource,
“These books are printed, they exist, they’re finite,” Schlee said. “No one can edit them on the internet, vis-à-vis Orwell. Books are a continuous representation of what’s real and physical as opposed to what somebody just makes up and puts on the internet.”
Katina Csillag, the new president of Friends of the Glen Cove Public Library, said she’s thankful for those who generously donated books and to all the staff and volunteers who helped organize the sale.
Csillag said that many who showed up to the sale asked when the event would happen again. Although she couldn’t confirm a next date or how frequently the event would occur, she said she looks forward to holding another sale.