In thirteen years of bookselling we've never wandered too far afield to a book sale. But June 20th was our (insert improbably high number and add "th" to the end) wedding anniversary, so we decided to celebrate in Cincinnati, a city about four hours south. The idea was to visit the art museum, see a play, have one spectacular dinner, hike in one of the parks by the river, and visit the Rookwood pottery. But then on a whim I decided just for fun to see if there were any book sales in the Queen City during our stay.
All it took was a few clicks to find it -- a huge sale at a middle school on the east side of the city. Goodbye Mariott Hotel. Goodbye art museum. Goodbye play, goodbye entire day. Goodbye wind in our hair, goodbye tourists everywhere…
Eric protested mildly, but soon saw the advantage of a working holiday -- part of the trip was now tax deductible. That’s a good thing, but the really good thing was the sale. We stayed at the Hampton Inn about three miles away and were in line by 7:30 the following morning. Start time was 10:00 a.m., but these days it’s nothing to stand for three hours at a book sale so there were already five or six people waiting when we pulled into the parking lot. Immediately I spotted a familiar purple car and laughed out loud. One of my favorite sellers from home had made the trek too! Sure enough, his bags were at the front and he was around the corner of the building reading, a noble occupation for any true bookseller/bibliophile. I indulge in it myself sometimes at sales, but the sun was shining and I was so excited I felt like I’d swallowed Mexican jumping beans.
The very first item I chose was the best – a turn-of-the-century Japanese book fashioned from lovely paper tied with purple silk. Inside, full-page color photos of life in Japan made my heart skip a beat. This one deserves its own post, so we’ll talk about it later. I mention it now only because it launched one of the most enjoyable sales we’ve ever attended. The volunteers at the Anderson Township Library system of Cincinnati, Ohio’s annual book sale are uncommonly friendly with nary a Book Nazi in the bunch. They also constitute a cast of thousands, all of whom know how to run a first class sale. You would think most sale givers would eventually figure this out, but it’s been our experience that they do NOT. Most either allow the sale to be picked over in advance, and/or -- mostly and-- deem common books special and price them through the roof, overprice damaged books equally outlandishly, and have no system for safe book storage.
By securing the large space at the middle school the Anderson Township volunteers avoided stress by insuring that the large crowd would disperse among the many tables. Everything was also CLEAN, nicely sorted, and visibly priced and – oh happy day! – they even had a system for making sure you left with the books you chose. At most sales I stagger under the weight of my selections, get trapped in corners, desperately try to stake out a place for our stash, and then have to constantly watch it to make sure no one takes it. But at this sale as soon as they saw you carrying a couple books they relieved you of the burden, put your name on the pile, and held them for you in the center of their several islands of tables.
Book procurement in the 21st century is not for the faint of heart. It’s more like a land grab than a scholarly pursuit, so to find an oasis of gentility was worth the loss of both the art museum and the pottery. It restorethed my soul. And the one spectacular dinner didn’t hurt either.
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