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Shop for books, DVDs, books on CD, Playaways, vinyl records, antique and vintage books, Wyoming and the west books, and more, for all ages and all genres! Adult fiction and nonfiction are priced at $2 for hardbacks and $1 for paperbacks, and children’s and young adult books are $1—until Bag Days when all items will be $5 per bag.

Do you know that libraries across the country host used book sales every year? Have you ever wondered where all the sale items come from? Many of them are from you, the public. Every day, boxes of books are donated to libraries by people who are decluttering, downsizing, cleaning out mom and dad’s house, etc. No one wants to throw away books and it’s hard for libraries, too! In order to keep library shelves full of new books, books with accurate information, books that aren’t falling apart from lots of checkouts, as well as all our most-loved favorites, books have to be discarded, or weeded as libraries like to call it.

All library materials have a life cycle that includes having a spot on a library shelf, being checked out by book lovers, and being removed from the collection (weeded). Weeding happens every day in every library department and can be triggered by several factors: popularity–after a certain period of time, the item is not being checked out; overuse–the item is damaged or soiled (in this case, if the material is still popular, a replacement will be purchased provided it’s still in print at an affordable price); loss–if a series book is lost or damaged but can’t be replaced, the entire series is weeded; inaccurate information–think technology and science in particular, topics that change so fast our heads spin.

And that’s where book sales come in. At your library in Gillette, if you ever want to use the stage in the Wyoming Room, you’ll find, sadly, you can’t because it’s filled with boxes of books. CCPL is cramped for space so the stage is where donated and weeded books are stored all year long until they get hauled to Wyoming Room tables to be sold in the book sale. After the sale, the process begins again. What happens to items that don’t get sold during our book sales? They are displayed on tables in CCPL’s lobby and given away for free. If no one takes the items home, they are then recycled or thrown away.

The Friends of the Library mission is to build strong public support, community awareness, and sound stewardship values among all Friends in support of Campbell County Libraries. This nonprofit organization is an important part of Campbell County’s cultural community. The book sale generates revenue the Friends use for advocacy and to purchase things like an early literacy computer for CCPL’s Children’s Department; a gaming system for Wright Branch Library; and video-editing software for library patron use in Gillette and Wright. The Friends also sponsor yearly college scholarships for Campbell County graduating seniors. How cool is that?

Interested in becoming a Friend or volunteering to help man the sale? Call Krisene at 687.9210. Or, simply stop by the Book Sale, get some great deals, and support your libraries in Gillette and Wright!