• 0% INFLATION: In these post-taxing times of spiraling costs (even at Costco gas is over $4.10 a gallon), prices at the Bard Street Book Store hold steady at just 25¢ for most paperbacks, 50¢ for most hardcover fiction & nonfiction, and $1 for newer titles (2010 & 2011) and DVDs. Audiobooks on CD are usually between $3 and $5 (audible.com and iTunes downloads cost many times more–and you can’t share them with friends). For the price of a single movie ticket, you can amass enough reading, listening, and watching entertainment to last the whole summer, so come early and stock up.
• THE BARD AT BARD STREET: In addition to an impressive selection of individual plays, we are offering a set of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare in six large paperback volumes. This 1980 Bantam Books publication is edited by a renowned Shakespearean scholar, University of Chicago Professor Emeritus David Bevington, with an introduction by the late New York theater impresario Joseph Papp. These books are in excellent condition, and a mere $5 will make the entire collection one of your best lifetime investments.
• FOR YOUNG–AND YOUNG@HEART–ADULTS: The Children’s Corner has an unusually large stock of Young Adult fiction, ranging from classics like Caddie Woodlawn, Andy Hardy, Nancy Drew, and Anne of Green Gables, to books by C. S. Lewis, Beverly Cleary (remember Ramona Quimby?), Judy Blume, Scott O’Dell, and a slew more. An essay in the New York Times Book Review last August commented on the increasing popularity of Y.A. fiction among “real” adults who consider themselves serious readers. Why? The characters are easy to identify with, the plots are inventive and fast-paced, and the narrative voices have not acquired the cynical tone of so many “adult” books. At 25¢ a title, how can you not buy an armful?
• CLEARANCE SALE BARGAINS: Whenever she needs to make room for new acquisitions on the shelves at the Hermosa Beach Library, County Library Manager Elmita Brown donates older titles to enrich the offerings at our sales. All library discards are just 10¢ each. Also remember to check the FREE cart on your way out
INSIDE INFORMATION
• FOR MORE SALE INFORMATION: Please call Carol Lawson, Book Sale Chairman, at 310-372-2610 or call the Hermosa Beach Library at 310-379-8475
• INTERIM SALE SHELVES:Book cases flanking the Pier Avenue entrance to the Library are restocked every week with large-format paperback fiction, hardcover nonfiction, music CDs, audio tapes, and seasonal treasures. Magazines are often free, as are other items, so make this section part of your regular library visit.
• MONEY WELL EARNED & SPENT: Proceeds from book sales, members’ dues, and individual gifts are continuing to keep the library collection up-to-date by paying for magazine subscriptions, best-sellers, DVDs, audiobooks, & music CDs, and to equip the staff with items such as portable step stools, a paper shredder, DVD and audiobook cases, a timer for the Paws to Read program, and special bookmarks. In the 2010 calendar year total contributions by the FOL exceeded $25,000, thanks to your support of our book sales and our volunteers’ hard work.
• MONDAY BARD STREET BOOK STORE HOURS: 9:30 - 11:30 A.M. (CLOSED ON ALL MONDAY HOLIDAYS) Large book donations may be brought to the Bard Street address during these hours. Call Carol Lawson at 310-372-2610 to arrange for delivery at another time. Book donations and FOL membership dues can also be left at the Hermosa Beach Library during open hours.
• LIVING LEGACIES: Some of the longtime members and supporters of the HBFOL continue to make a difference to the Hermosa Beach Library and its community. Evelyn Harris Belasco taught at Hermosa Valley School and served as FOL President in 1976. Her husband, Jack Belasco, established the Evelyn Belasco Fund in her memory and during his lifetime matched proceeds from all December FOL book sales to augment this legacy. The Belasco Fund continues to pay for additions and replacements to the children’s book collection, craft supplies for afterschool and preschool activities, refreshments at special children’s events, and entertainment for the annual summer reading program. Other memorial legacies and gifts have come from the families and friends of Patricia Gazin, Charlotte Malone, Betty Evans, and Etta Simpson. We continue to be grateful to them.
