COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo — The Friends of the Pikes Peak Library District's Big Fall Book Sale is offering book lovers the chance to fill their shelves for under $3 a book — and every dollar spent goes directly back to funding the library programs and initiatives that make reading accessible to everyone.
Watch Liv Wood's report in the video player below:
Last year, more than $160,000 was given back to the library, with some of that funding coming from the book sale. The other funds came from three regional library bookstores, online sales, branch bookstores, donations, membership fees, and the spring book sale.
Children's books, mystery novels and cookbooks are among the many genres on display at the four-day event. Purchasing a book doesn't just score shoppers a great deal — it also fuels the programs that bring more people to the page.
Tracia and Edward Bell had been anticipating the event for months, marking it on their calendar at home and bringing their three children along for a family outing.
"I literally had it on the refrigerator, marking this day on the calendar like, 'We're gonna be there,'" Tracia Bell said.
"She was talking about it for months," said Edward Bell.
For the Bell family, reading is at the center of their home life.
"This is probably one of the first PPLD libraries that they've got exposed to because they love the children area, so we come, and they have fun and do their thing," Tracia Bell said. "At home we literally have bookshelves everywhere. We're not big TV people, and so we just dive in all genres, really."
Every purchase made at the sale — and at branch library book sales throughout the district — is funneled back to the Pikes Peak Library District. Rita Jordan, president of the Friends of PPLD, explained why that sustained funding is so critical.
"It's great to have programs, but you don't know if next year — are we going to be able to have money to continue these programs?" Rita Jordan said.
The Friends of PPLD supports programs including:
- Summer Adventure
- All Pikes Peak Reads
- Mountain of Authors
- Regional History Symposium
- Adult Winter Reading Program
- BookBrowse, a digital resource for readers and book clubs
"Because of the low cost, they are accessible, these books are accessible to everybody," Jordan said. "We want to be able to say you can get books here so that you have them on your shelf. You do not have to return them; they are yours, especially for kids, which is so important for literacy."
The Big Fall Book Sale is just one chapter of many that make reading more accessible to families like the Bells.
"We're thankful. This is here and that we can pull different topics and keep expanding our minds," Edward Bell said.
If you couldn't make it to the Saturday sale, the bargain bag sale begins at 11:00 am on Sunday. It is $6 per bag of books for members and $7 for non-members.
