KOLOA — Doors open at 9 a.m. and close at 6 p.m. this evening for the final day of the Friends of Koloa Library used book sale. “Our goal is to have no books left at 6 p.m.,” said David
KOLOA — Doors open at 9 a.m. and close at 6 p.m. this evening for the final day of the Friends of Koloa Library used book sale.
“Our goal is to have no books left at 6 p.m.,” said David Thorp, Koloa Library librarian. “What is left is the good stuff.”
The Friends of the Koloa Library hosted the first of two days for the sale Thursday, as shoppers milled, browsed and selected from numerous titles in all categories of books, CDs, and DVDs.
“I need to tap into my Hello Kitty fund,” said Janet Rasmussen, who after paying for her initial purchases, found more titles to add to her cache.
Proceeds from the sale go to support purchases of equipment and materials for the Koloa Library, stated a press release.
“We’re going to have to rely on the Friends of the Koloa Library to acquire a lot of the high demand items as well as supply some of the library’s stock,” Thorp said. “Funds for the fiscal year ending in June were cut 60 percent. The budget for next year hasn’t appeared, yet, but it is looking fairly grim.”
Funds are needed to purchase equipment and additional materials to maintain the quality of services provided to the public by the library, states a Friends membership flier.
When the library’s periodicals budget was cut by 67 percent, the Friends allocated $597 to purchase subscriptions to 34 additional magazines.
Thorp suggested people look into joining the Friends for a regular membership of $5 a year, or a lifetime membership for $50.
“If you were a Friend, you got to come in and early-shop, Wednesday night like Ed Justus of the Talk Story Bookstore in Hanapepe who spent a couple of hundred dollars purchasing books,” Thorp said. “With the closing of Borders, Ed is boosting his number of titles.”
People are also holding on to their titles longer in anticipation of not having an outlet to replenish their libraries, he suggested.
“We should have a better supply during the October sale scheduled for Oct. 27-28,” Thorp said. “We’ll have the summer traffic of visitors who contribute to the collection of titles.”
The Friends of the Koloa Public and School Library is a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to promote excellent library services in the Koloa, Po‘ipu, Oma‘o, Lawai and Kalaheo areas.
The Koloa History Project, the publishing of the Historic Koloa: a Guide, the sponsoring of semi-annual book sales, the Koloa Walking Tour, and purchasing shelving, display racks, storage cabinets, audiovisual materials and library materials are just some of the accomplishments of the Friends.
Call 742-8455 for more information.