Kids & Family

Friends of the Library Book Sale Raises Thousands [Video]

The community supports the library by digging deep off the shelves. Find out how much was raised.


Submitted by Linda Lewis


Great weather that was perfect for curling up with a good book turned out to be great weather to buy a good book as well. 

For the 15th year, the Friends of the Library unleashed bargains on the community as a means of raising funds for the Rancho Santa Santa Margarita Library. 

The weekend event had bookworms—or the mothers of bookworms—lined up at 9 a.m. which, coincidentally, was the same time as the Friday grand opening for BevMo a couple hundred feet away. 

The first arrivals had access to thousands of gently used books for children, teens and adults.

French Impressionism coffee table book for $2? Check!

Biography of Bruce Springsteen for $1? Check!  

How to Make Paper Airplanes for 50 cents? Check!

By Saturday afternoon, book lovers had walked away with more than 3,000 books that raised more than $5,000 to help pay for important Rancho Santa Margarita Library programs.


“We were surprised at the great turnout, especially since we were competing with the BevMo Grand Opening next door,” said Jenny Gasset, Senior Branch Librarian. “Friends of the Library donations help us so much with community outreach programs and with many extras our budget would no longer allow without the additional funds.”

Each year RSM Friends of the Library raises more than $80,000 for the Library to replace dwindling county funding. FOL funds help pay for summer reading programs, children’s story times, teen craft classes, special books for the library, furnishings for the community room and much more. Most of the money comes from book sales through Friends of the Library Book Store that's part of the library complex, at 30902 La Promesa, and the group’s semi-annual book sales that have been held in the library's community room for the past 15 years.

The FOL Spring Book Sale is scheduled for May 16-17.

Library bookstore hours are Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.


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