NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Make room on your shelves.

The Friends of the North Adams Public Library will host its annual book sale and silent auction at St. Elizabeth of Hungary's Parish Center on Friday, Sept. 26, and Saturday, Sept. 27, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days. There will be a bake sale, too.

With 8,000 books neatly displayed on tables according to category, the parish center will be a book readers' and library lovers' delight.

Prices for paperbacks will range from 25 cents to $1 and hardcovers will be priced from $1 to $3. There will be something for everybody, including fiction, history, biographies, travel, art, cookbooks, children's books, audio books as well as CDs, DVDs, VHS tapes.

Science fiction and fantasy fans may make a beeline for the Harry Potter, Hunger Game and Twilight series.

"A special table will have oversized books — coffeetable books and gift-giving books," Judy Noel, co-chair of the book sale with Mary Jane Desmarais, said in an interview at the North Adams Public Library.

"We start collecting and sorting books in April," said Desmarais. "We have seven regular volunteers, but about 50 people volunteer to help with the book sale."     

The books are stored and sorted in the basement of the library.

"People are good about bringing in only books that are in good condition, but sorters weed out any that are not," said Desmarais.
 
Noel chimed in that books may be easy to categorize by subject, either because sorters are familiar with them or the dustjacket interprets the book. "But, sometimes we put a book aside to look through it later so we can decide where it belongs."

According to the Friends' records, the first book sale was held in 1986. One of the earliest was held in a tent on the lawn of the library, and when the library building was being renovated in 2004, the book sale was located across the street from the temporary library in the former Wall-Streeter mill.  

For the last several years, the book sale has been held at the parish center.

"It's big and light, and there's a lot of parking. It's also in walking distance of downtown," said Desmarais.

Transporting  the books to the parish center would be a challenging, if not impossible, task for the regular volunteers.

"Students from [Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts] are our lifeline. They come over two days before the sale and load the boxes of books onto pickup trucks we have and then place them on the tables at the parish center. We need strong backs," said Desmarais.

Among the books at the parish center, are those that will be offered in the silent auction, including "Ansel Adams at 100" collection, "Norman Rockwell Behind the Camera," the  complete cartoons of "The New Yorker" with two CDs (2004), a collection of superhero comics and a children's book titled "The Stray" by Betsy James Wyeth.  

Bidding will be closed at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

"If the winners are at the sale, they can take their books home with them, otherwise we phone the winners," Desmarais said.      

Noel has noticed that people like to linger at sale's end, chatting with friends .... "We have to remind them that the sale is over. We say, 'we are going to take the tables down.'"

 The 2013 book sale generated $6,000.  
 
 "All the money benefits the library," said Claire LaMere, chairman of the Friends of the NAPL."We try to augment the budget for the library with things they need or special things they want. Due to budget cuts, the library has been relying on us more and more for things they need."

The Friends have provided funds to purchase shelving for audio books, new chairs for the staff and four wing chairs for the main sitting room, also called the chandelier room because its beautiful crystal chandelier illuminates the room.

One of the bigger projects the Friends funded was the renovation of the community room on the third floor of the library.

Mindy Hackner, who assumed the position of director in March, wrote in an email to iBerkshires that she gave the Friends a "wish list" for their last meeting.

"Right now I'm asking for museum passes, some author visits, more programming and Music at the Mansion," she wrote.

The book sale and membership drive are the main source of the Friends' revenue.

"We have members in Williamstown and Vermont, and people who have moved away from the area, as far as California and Florida, still support the library," LaMere said. "People come to the book sale before going back to Florida for the winter."

Although the September date for the sale was chosen because it did not conflict with other book sales in the area, LaMere said, "It is not a competition."

"Williamstown [Friends of the Milne Public Library] was very helpful in getting us started. We wanted to emulate them. Time to time we still contact them for advice. We are always trying to make our book sale as perfect as we can."

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