Paul Szmal: Good morning 750, it's Guest-O-Rama Wednesday and joining us in studio are Spike Herzig and Deb Brewer, so what brings you folks in?
Spike Herzig, Deb Brewer: Thanks for having us. It's almost time for the fall book sale, foundation for the Geneva Public Library, so people who know our drill, we do one appearance to talk about getting your books out of the attic and getting them to the library, so tell us about it.
Spike Herzig, Deb Brewer: Well, yes, thanks for all the donations we've gotten so far, yeah, the sale is coming up September 19th through the 27th and we're accepting donations, absolutely, we prefer gently used books, you know, the drill, yeah, we're there and bring them on into the main floor. And we want to emphasize that because people mean well, but since my wife's a librarian and I've gone through this myself, there's no market for books that are water damaged or just dirty or have pages torn or things like that, like I said, a lot of people mean well, but if it isn't something that you would give to a friend, then probably shouldn't donate it to the sale.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, our rule of thumb is if you won't buy it, the public won't buy it, yeah. So remind us a couple of the materials that don't usually go well, so you don't want those.
Spike Herzig, Deb Brewer: Well, we don't accept encyclopedias, no, and nor do we do Reader's Digest Condensed, we don't do textbooks, yeah, that's about it.
Paul Szmal: See, it's funny because I used to, I liked the Reader's Digest books when I was a kid, but I guess people would rather, yeah, they'd rather read the full thing. So if you go to the website, and by the way, we're doing our library segment this morning at 835 Brandy Roselle, the Children's Library, and will join us, so go to the GenevaPublicLibrary.net site, you'll see the link for the Foundation Fall Book Sale, it's September 19-27, and I know we'll talk about this in more detail, but give us some of the pricing and the deals to be found.
Spike Herzig, Deb Brewer: Oh, we've got some good deals. During the full price time, 19-21, we grab the hardcover and the trade books for $2, the mass paperbacks are $5 for a dollar, can't beat that, the audio, any audio that we have, the puzzles are $0.50, and the kids and the young adult books are $0.25. Then we're going to switch over to discount days between the 23rd and the 24th, and again, the hardcover and the trade are going to drop down to $1, the mass paperbacks will be two for $0.25, audio is $0.25, the kids and the young adults are two for $0.25, puzzles for two for $0.25, if we have any left, they go.
And then during that time, we're going to try something a little bit different. If you buy five items, any five items, you can get something for free. We're going to have three bag sales this year. The first one is a $5, the next one is a $2, and the last one is a dollar bag sale, and those are between September 25 and September 27.
Paul Szmal: Now we have new people listening all the time, so we always like to remind them, tell us how the Foundation for the Geneva Public Library fills in with funding that isn't in the regular budget.
Spike Herzig, Deb Brewer: Sure, we provide funding for the library for items and things that they might not be able to afford or not have the financing at the particular time. We've done everything from providing funds for rugs and chairs, and probably the biggest thing is technology. And we know that the library is undergoing a planning session now because our security, all of our internet and so forth, is all hardwired. And so we're looking to provide that. So I'm sure that the Foundation will be looking to help financially with something of that nature too.
Paul Szmal: And of course, libraries are getting so creative. I know that there's a closet for personal items and things that people need, and my wife at her library in Rushville, an organization provided fresh vegetables that people could take home during the year. So libraries are really just finding new and creative ways to be vital parts of the public.
Spike Herzig, Deb Brewer: Yep. They always say here that our library is Geneva's living room, and now it's become almost a full house. We also have the opportunity to come in and get fruits and vegetables for you and those sorts of things. So it's really wonderful to see. And then remind us about the year-round sale that takes place after the big sales.
We have a used bookstore, and we really sell a lot of books during the course of the year there. And people can just come in and browse. They can pick out a book from the shelf, sit down in our chairs there and the carrels and read it, decide what they like. And again, they are very fair priced, the same as what you would get at the book sale.
Paul Szmal: Typically, does one or the other do better, the spring or the fall, in terms of numbers of people who come, or is it about the same?
Spike Herzig, Deb Brewer: Gosh, I don't know. I think it's about the same, Ted. That's a good question. We'll have to check that out for the next time we're here.
Paul Szmal: This is a great opportunity. I've got to go, because even though I have access to my library in Rushville, I keep getting books for my wife. I've been spending so much time reading this summer that I'm on some of my own books for a third and fourth time. Fortunately, at my age, I don't remember them much anymore, so I can reread a book that I read six months ago, and it's all new to me. I don't know how the ending is going to come out.
If you go to the Geneva Public Library site, you'll see the link to the foundation for the Geneva Public Library, and remind us how people can be a part of the foundation and play a bigger role in their library.
Spike Herzig, Deb Brewer: Just give anybody at the library a call, stop by, send an email, whatever you might like. We will follow up with you and get you to work.
Paul Szmal: All right. Spike and Deb, thanks as always. You'll be back in a couple of weeks, right before the start of the sale, to remind everybody about all these prices and deals. In the meantime, go to your library.
Spike Herzig, Deb Brewer: Right. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks as always. We appreciate the visit. We'll see you next morning.
