The long lines of eager shoppers, snaking from the entrance of the main library past Scoville Park to First Baptist Church, was the first omen that the Friends of the Oak Park Public Library’s 54th annual book sale was about to make history.
As the lines on that muggy July foretold, the Friends’ three-day sale did just that: It raised a whopping $61,000, eclipsing last year’s then-record sales by 50 percent!
Shoppers from across Chicagoland — Indiana and Michigan, too — made over 2,700 purchases of books, CDs, games and DVDs, generating funds for vital library programs and services.
With the proceeds of last year’s sale, the Friends paid for “Coding for Kids” programs, an inkjet printer and cutting plotter for the Creative Studio, new shelving at Maze Library, the Folk Concert series and Special Hispanic Heritage Month Music Program, among others
In addition to raising money, the sale has become a treasured local tradition, binding Oak Park’s community of readers in a happy literary co-dependency: readers donate tens of thousands of books each year, thereby clearing out shelf space for the purchase of new treasures at the ensuing sale!
The Friends, a private nonprofit organization, depends on its invaluable network of more than 120 volunteers and 13 board members, who, in just over a month, sort, box, move, unbox and display more than 50,000 books donated for the sale.
We also work closely with library staff, who offer crucial logistical support, while seamlessly maintaining regular operations amid the chaos that inevitably attends the set-up, sale and breakdown of what is now the Midwest’s largest used book sale.
Given the thousands of hours required to mount a sale, it’s little wonder that some libraries have downsized or eliminated their book fairs.
But the Friends’ board has already begun planning for the 2027 sale, scheduled for July 9-11.
And with the support of our wonderful volunteers, library staff and our book-loving community, we believe the 2027 sale will be an even bigger success.
Russ Glidden
President, Friends of the Oak Park Public Library
Board of Directors