Inside Pequot Library's 50th Annual Book Sale

Hundreds of book lovers braved the heat to come to the second day of Pequot Library's annual Book Sale, more than making up for bad weather and double-the-marked-price books that drew a smaller-than-expected crowd Friday.

Some of the books at the library fetched hundreds of dollars at auction - a first-edition of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain fetched $200; a first printing of "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez fetched $400; a signed copy of "U.S. Tornadoes" by T. Theodore Fujita, for whom the severity ranking scale of tornadoes is named, was auctioned off at $40; and "Two Guys Four Corners," a photography book by Don and Fred Imus, which the donator had the Imus brothers sign 11 times at different events, sold for $20.

Fujita had signed "Mr. Tornado," underneath a drawing of a tornado he made, to Jack Kelly, a field hockey coach at Staples High School for 30 years, and the later inscriptions by Don Imus, who had grown weary of signing the same book for the same fan, included "No more," "I hope you choke," and "I can't believe this."

"We had silly stuff like that, and then we had some pretty serious literature which brought in good money," said Douglas Fried, co-chairman of this year's Pequot Book Sale.

Pequot Library decided to withdraw one of the donated books - a copy of "Bay Psalm Book," which was the first book printed in North America and one of 50 printed in 1862 - and keep it for the library's "Special Collection," which focuses on early American life, Fried said.

Pequot Library nearly included in the live auction a collection of 8-track tapes of Liberace and Engelbert Humperdinck that came in a 1970s-decorated case. "It was clearly 1970s and I figured someone would see the humor in it...I was tempted to put it in the live auction so maybe someone with a little wine would bid it up to a large price," Fried said. The tapes instead sold in the general sale for $10.

A book from before the 1970s - "Stamp Help Out!" by Lenny Bruce, self published in 1965 - sold at auction for $130, Fried said.

Fried said he paid $5 for a vinyl record called "Music to Wash Clothes and Iron By" that had been donated to the library and gave it to his wife as a joke. "She did and didn't appreciate it...She was appropriately appreciative, I'll put it that way," Fried quipped.

Some books which would be considered valuable snuck by the book sale checkers but were caught by sale volunteers. One of the volunteers found a book signed by U.S. astronauts and alerted Fried who decided to hold it back for next year's sale. "We decided not to sell [that] for $2, and that will be at next year's sale," he said.

Another book that nearly snuck through was a signed copy of "Portrait of a Romantic," which Steven Millhauser, the author, had signed to his mother - "For mom - author of this author."

"I thought that was very cute," Fried said of the inscription.

Fried said volunteers go through roughly 200,000 books before every annual sale and sometimes miss signed or notable copies, though he added that they don't check too hard because part of the fun of the sale is finding bargains.

Fried said some libraries use bar code scanners to see if they're pricing books competitively at their book sales, but Pequot Library doesn't do that. "We prefer keeping it a low-key sale and for there to be bargains, and we need people who can resell the books. We're not a retail operation and very much appreciate dealers who come a couple hundred miles to stock their stores."

John Hartwell, co-chairman of this year's sale, said he knows of someone who buys boxes upon boxes of paperback books and then re-sells them on the Internet, presumably for a good profit. "There's so many different ways these books move," he said. "Things find a home that otherwise wouldn't have found a home before."

Attendance at the 50th annual Book Sale was down on the first day on Friday because of torrential rains and the double-the-marked-price cost of books, Fried said.

"People were actually trapped in the tents a little bit. The volume of people was way down," Fried said. "We think we're pricing the books competitively if we double the prices, but people like to see if they can get the books at the marked price."

"Today is our biggest day in terms of volume. The tents are packed, and I think we are making up for yesterday's weather. I think this is our biggest Saturday on record," Fried said. "Today I have no doubt will be a record because a lot of the inventory didn't sell yesterday because of the economy."

But Pequot Library's annual Book Sale isn't just about books. People can find bargains on compact discs, DVDs and vinyl records as well.

On Sunday, teachers in Bridgeport's and New Haven's public school systems will get first crack at books that are appropriate for the classroom. The teachers have vouchers provided by the Renee B. Fisher Foundation and, in some cases, can pick up multiple copies of the same book because publishing houses have donated overstock books to the library's sale.

"We could literally give them untouched books," said Paige Gillies, a book sale volunteer who convinced publishing houses to donate books for the program.

The "Books for Teachers" program is run by Shelly Fisher Fishkin; Bobby Fisher Fishkin, her son; and Lori Hashizume, Fried's wife, who is expanding the program into different states.

Fried said more than 400 teachers are participating in the "Books for Teachers" program this year, and Gillies said holding it on Sunday morning fills what was normally a slow time at the annual book sale in the past.

Fried's worked as a volunteer at Pequot Library's Book Sale for 18 years and has been chairman or co-chairman of the sale for nine of the last 12 years. He said this year is his final year, though he admits he's said he will retire from the sale before.

"I think the book sale needs new ideas...I'm sure they will find someone who can do an even better job," Fried said. He said no one has stepped forward yet to take over as chairman or co-chairman "in spite of my pleading."

For this year's sale, Fried said Hartwell's organizational skills complement his own knowledge of books and marketing ability.

The books at Pequot Library's annual Book Sale - this year, there are more than 140,000 - are donated by people throughout the year. The Book Sale is Pequot Library's biggest annual fundraiser and usually brings in about $150,000, Fried said. About 90 percent of money raised by the sale goes directly to the library; the rest is for expenses associated with the sale, such as tent rentals and the cost of printing materials.

Pequot Library, at 720 Pequot Ave. in Fairfield's Southport neighborhood, is privately owned but open to the public, and the town of Fairfield only covers 25 percent to 30 percent of the library's annual operating budget.

The library couldn't hold its sale if people didn't donate books throughout the year at the library, and Fried said Pequot Library is "grateful to supporters of the library who donate books."

"Getting involved with the community and having everyone here for the right reason is what makes it so rewarding," Fried said.

Remaining hours and prices of Pequot Library's annual Book Sale are 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Sunday, with books sold at the marked price; 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, with books sold at half the marked price; and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, with books sold at a cost of $5 per bag. Hartwell said the size of the bag doesn't matter.