It’s the moment local book fans have all been waiting for! The Friends of the Center Moriches Library second annual vintage, antique and premium book sale.
The club collects donated books eight months out of the year in an effort to sort and collect enough books for their sales.
“The older books are treasures. People do not always know what to do with them and not wanting to add to the landfill or toss, they find their way to various donation places, one of which is the CM Friends donation box (open April through November),” said member Kathy Kleinpeter.
The idea for the antique book sale originally came from seeing something similar at the West Islip library. After networking with that Friends group, Kleinpeter said, the CM FOL were able to host their first sale last January.
To make the sale happen, Kleinpeter and the friends search through hundreds of book donations for vintage finds.
“I continue to cull these treasures: antique books over 100 years old, vintage between 50 and 99 years, and premium would be up to 50 years old,” she said. “Some of the older books may be tattered, but I still would like for them to eventually find a home.”
However, if they are moldy or tattered beyond hope, they are tossed.
“Once in a while a book comes through with enough dedication information, or specific titles, that I am able to reconnect them with the place of origin, not necessarily the person,” she added, noting not all of them are put up for sale.
Unique finds included oversized atlases from the Cherokee Plantation (named after the Cherokee Rose), S.C., that belonged to the third wife, Caroline Coe, of WR Coe, who owned the Planting Fields Arboreum in Oyster Bay.
“I connected with the historian there and she was thrilled to have these pieces of history to add to their historical collection,” she said of their good work, too.
Earlier this year, they also found a Luther’s Small Catechism from the Orphans Home, Topton, Pa., December 1912. After some research, she spoke with a member of staff and again, they were thrilled to have this for their archives.
Also, this past summer they found a bible with the inscription: “The Rugby Congregational Church,” dated in the 1920s. And, you guessed it, after some research, she was able to find the church, which is now The Rugby Deliverance Tabernacle, Brooklyn, N.Y.
“The reverend there was delighted to have this added to their historical archives,” she added. “So, it’s not just about having a fundraiser or finding new homes for the treasures, but giving new life for a book that had lost its way!”
The Friends of the Center Moriches Free Public Library has been operated by volunteers for decades with a purpose to maintain an association of people interested in libraries.
The Friends help the library by raising public awareness, stimulating the use of the library’s resources and services, and to support the library’s developments.
FOL has also maintained outreach programs, including Library at the Laundromat and the Little Free Libraries at Kaler’s Pond and Moriches Bay Recreation Facility; successful books sales, a few raffles, the Book Club, Puzzle Swap; and the annual scholarship program that presents awards to three local high school seniors.
Their fundraising efforts, though, rely mostly on the book donations from the public, where they offer them to the public on their thrift shelves in the library, as well as on specific book sale days, about twice a year.
All funds raised support the purchase of equipment, furniture, and programs. With the funding, the group also recently made the donation to the purchase of property to expand the library’s parking lot.
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