2014 Lincoln Public Libraries Book Sale

Hooray for books! Hooray for libraries!! And hooray for Lincoln, Nebraska. I've missed you. This annual autumn sale is one I grew up attending. Every year (when Mom remembered) we'd go. And over the years, I started remembering myself to ensure we got there to fill a couple grocery bags with treasures. It's moved a couple times over the years, and I was looking forward to attending once more.

It was a busy weekend, but I managed to slip over for the FINAL HOUR of the annual Lincoln Public Libraries book sale. Posted prices were a little higher than normal for FOL book sales in the region, but by Sunday afternoon it was "Fill a good-sized box for $5!!" I managed to nearly fill said good-sized box and gladly paid the $5 asked. Lots of misc. from the "literary criticism" part of the world I love so much (author letters, essays, etc.) even some old bound editions of The Dial.

I only had about an hour, so I didn't get much through the fiction section ... requires too much browsing to find good candidates. For me, nonfiction is a much higher ratio of serendipity and success.

The sale for 2014 was held at the "new" Lancaster Event Center in Lincoln, Nebraska. I say "new" because it really isn't very new anymore. But it is to me, the Exile who has wandered far from home has returned to his hometown for a sojourn. Not permanent. I think. Why? Life's funny, that's why. But books are constant.

Points of note for anyone in the future looking: plenty of free parking, there were concessions available for purchase on-site, and things were pretty well organized and kept tidy ... at least in the final hour! This tells me it was probably kept pretty tidy and well organized all along.

One thing that wasn't posted was that it was fill a box for $5 Sunday afternoon.  In fact, I think they still had the Friday prices posted -- I guessed it was something along the lines of "fill a box," but waited until it was announced over the P.A. to really start loading up. You make different choices when it's $1 or $2 per book than you do at "fill a box" time.  Right?

OKC Metro Libraries FOL book sale!

It's almost here. One of my favorite holidays.

It's the 31st Annual Friends of the Library book sale here in OKC Feb. 19-21. Once again, the booksale to end all booksales in the state of Oklahoma will be at the State Fair Grounds in Oklahoma City. Folks, seriously, if you love books, and you can only attend one local sale, this is the one. Sure, it isn't the cheapest, but it's awful close, and nobody can come anywhere close to the number of books for sale. Just click on the clicky bits on the side that say FOL book sale to get an idea of years past.

Now, the 19th will be the "Members Only" sale on Friday afternoon, which will find you standing in line with the thousands of other members of the Metro FOL. And I mean it when I say thousands and all day. Doors don't open until 5:30pm, but you can bet your sweet pippy-longstocking folks will be lined up playing go fish early that morning.

For further info, be sure to visit the official website of the 2010 Metro FOL booksale:
http://www.mlsfriends.org/booksale.html.

Come score some books, make some new friends and support the libraries. Also, be sure to bring me a coffee, would you? Black. A cookie too? You're too sweet. I'm the guy in the second row, behind the hand-and-foot canasta game.

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Book Sales This Weekend

Courtesy Library of Congress

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Just a reminder, there are a couple great book sales this weekend in the OKC metro area. The Friends of the Library Sale for the Univ. of Central Oklahoma (UCO) begins today, Friday the 17th, at 12pm and closes at 8 tonight. Today is members only day, but you can join at the door for a very modest sum. It is also open Saturday the 18th, 12p - 8p. The sale is taking place at the library on the UCO campus in Edmond.

The other sale is sponsored by the Yukon Public Library. April 17-18, Friday 9am - 7pm and Saturday 9am - 3pm. This sale is taking place at the old Central School in Yukon at 6th and Oak. If you see me there, be sure to say hello!
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Looming Book Sales APRIL 17-19

It's that time of the year again. I've received my postcard in the mail to remind me of the 9th Annual Booksale APRIL 17-19 supporting of the Friends of the UCO Library. If you remember last year, I went and had a good time, including (but not limited to) finding a chocolate chip in the spine of a book. It's so cheap to join, you should go. After all, if Walter Benjamin taught us anything, it's books can be anywhere. It will also be a chance to take in their exhibit Books that Change Lives now on display.

The UCO sale will be Friday-Sunday, 12pm - 8pm, each day. Friday is Friends Only, but you can join for as little as $5. I will certainly be there.

That same weekend, there is another book sale in Yukon, OK, west of the OKC metro. The sale is held by the Mabel C. Fry Library, but it will be at the YMAC building at 6th and Oak. YMAC being the Yukon Museum and Art Center, which is the converted old Central School building. A peek at Google Maps, it looks like it is on the NW corner of that intersection.

It will only be held on APRIL 17-18, Friday 9am - 7pm and Saturday 9am - 3pm. Since I didn't know much about it, and had not been to this sale before, I called them. The librarian I spoke to said that the friends group has hosted the sale for at least the 8 years she's been there, except last year. So, they have two years worth of booksale books to unload, and this year in particular the books have "been flowing in". A bonus, there is no cost to attend the sale, even on Friday.

In Bibliophiles of Oklahoma news, we have scheduled our April meeting for the 23rd. Email me for time and place.

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Undercover Adventures

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Can you hear it? The buzz, the excitement building? The rustling of brown paper grocery bags being counted by Metro FOL volunteers? We're a short couple weeks out from the 30th annual Friends of the Metro Libraries book sale. The fun begins for FOL members on Friday, February 20th. For the rest of you mere, unwashed, "avid readers", the sale will continue Saturday and Sunday. Knowing me, I'll be going all three days. This is the biggest sale in Oklahoma. One of my favorite booksellers come all the way from Nebraska to attend! So, if you can make your way to the Fair Grounds in Oklahoma City, you shouldn't be disappointed.

Since I neglected to set the date for the next Bibliophiles of Oklahoma meeting at our last meeting, I'm invoking Section 3 of the Samuel Beckett Clause, aka "Should we wait for Godot?". The answer, of course, is that our next meeting will be Saturday evening, after the FOL sale. The sale only runs until 5:30 pm on Saturday, so it's only logical. Mostly, because I'll be hungry then. Stay tuned to your communiques for location.


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UCO Book Sale Report

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Last night I attended the 8th annual FOL sale benefiting the University of Central Oklahoma Library. I've visited the UCO campus a couple times before, and never the library. So I started in the visitor lot (mistake) and wondered around. There are no maps posted, so I relied on the kindness of students hanging around to point the library out. The Max Chambers library is in the Northwestern quarter of campus.

It was friends day, so I joined at the door. Membership levels start at $5, which is quite a bargain! Books were shelved along general topical lines. You know, environmental law in gardening, etc. I arrived at the end of the evening, long after the afternoon rush, so it was a little rummaged, but I still found some great books. There was a good mix of newer and older, hardback and paperback, ex-library and donated. Prices are very reasonable, and of course, go to a good cause. Follow the link at the top of the post for all the nitty-gritty.

Also, I found a flyaway for the record books. Flyaways are the stuff found in books. Usually postcards, receipts, etc. Well, this was nothing like that. The book published 1889, in cloth with a shaken spine and hinges starting. There seemed to be a good sized pebble or something in the spine. I tried to peek down the back strip-- something was down there alright, but I couldn't see what. I delicately prodded it with my Parker Jotter popping the invader loose. It clunked out on the shelf-- a chocolate chip. Whole and unsullied. Weird.

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Flu, Libraries and Sammies in Oklahoma

The American Library Association (ALA) sponsored camp libraries all over the US during WWI. Library directors serving at Camp Doniphan were Luther L. Dickerson and William K. Porter. If there was an existing facility, the ALA would use it. However, in many cases, including Camp Doniphan, the ALA would be required to meet their own space requirements. Luther L. Dickerson, of Grinnell College was sent to Europe after the Armistice to oversee a library there. William Porter replaced him in Oklahoma.

Luther Dickerson went to the American Expeditionary Force University at Beune in the Cote d'Or region. It was only operational for three months, March-June 1919, but Dickerson was able to accomplish many things. One being the number of books available to the soldier-students. One week after arriving and shelving 6000 books the library opened. Within a "very short time" the library exceeded 30,000 volumes, over 80% non-fiction. The three connected buildings that made up the library provided accommodations for 1,500 soldiers, twice the seating capacity of the central library of any American university. Daily circulation approached 1,100 volumes. In the short life of the Beune library 88,500 volumes circulated and attendance was estimated at 310,000.

November 1, 1919 Dickerson was appointed library specialist over army libraries. He oversaw army libraries until his resignation in 1924. In those intervening years, army command opinions declined on the necessity of troop libraries. Dickerson was not replaced.

Most of that information can be found in Arthur P. Young. Books for Sammies: The American Library Association and World War I. Pittsburgh, PA: Beta Phi Mu, 1981. ISBN 0910230153.


I have some interest in these libraries and those like them, like the libraries set up at camps for the Civilian Conservation Corps, POW camps, etc. The ALA processed millions of books during WWI. I'm sure they used many different markings for books, but mark them they did. My favorite to date is the bookplate which uses the art of the ALA book drives by CB Falls. I'm fortunate to have this plate in my collection. This weekend I found another label, more plain. It's a simple bookplate that reads "American Library Association/ Soldiers and Sailors/ Camp Library." Most bookplate collectors define labels as strictly typographic bookplates. They sometimes have ornamental borders, but are otherwise quite simple. Some of my favorite marks of ownership are typographic labels. Finding the book at the OKC Metro FOL sale, maybe this book came from Camp Doniphan. Sadly, there is no way to be sure. This label was applied directly to the cover and has the call number written on the spine and on the label. Many camps had the ALA library and then smaller "branches" in individual barracks, or with the Red Cross, the hospital, etc. So, the "Main Library" stamp likely means this book was kept at a building like the one pictured in the postcard.

In the back of another old book I found some neato postage stamps. There were programs with the Post Office during WWI and WWII (and perhaps other wars) that books could be sent in the mail to soldiers by simply applying postage to the book itself. Pardon my finger in the photo.


Then I noticed the rubber stamp on the paste down. I found it disturbing.

"Burn After Quarantine/ American Library Association"

1918 SPANISH FLU EPIDEMIC flashed involuntarily through my mind. I could feel the red rot on the spine dropping molecules into my white palms. Ugh. Wide-eyed, I stiffly pivoted at the waist to find the nearest door out. After all, I had to get my treasure home.

Now, if any of you out in bibliosphere-land have or know of a really great collection this book should go to, let me know. Does anyone know of other related bookplates or markings related to these camp libraries?