Barbara Lawlor, Gilpin County.  It was the best deal in town all weekend. On Friday and Saturday, Oct. 13 and 14, the Gilpin County Library held their fall book sale, one of two fundraisers that support the various programs that mountain residents have come to depend on.

Friends of the Gilpin County Library collect books throughout the year, inviting people to go through their shelves, closets, boxes in the basement and bags in the garage that have held piles of books that are no longer being read and bring them in.

The week before the sale, volunteers organize the books into categories and display them on long tables in the meeting room.

Colorful piles of children’s books are easy to find, vintage books, cookbooks, picture books, murder mysteries and non-fiction educational books were available for book lovers of all ilks.

Other members baked cookies and brownies, brought in their home-canned choke cherry jelly and had a good time browsing, exclaiming over a found treasure, clutching a favorite to their chest. The books were all priced to sell, but on Saturday afternoon the $3 a bag brought in moms and kids and collectors.

Friends of the Library president Beth McChesney said that proceeds from the book sale have gone to pay for the bike rack in front of the library, the big sign on the highway that invites travelers in for coffee and a smile, the metal railing that helps people up the steps, the film series and the summer reading program as well as the story hour.

At the last count, the library made$669 on their book sales, well worth the price of the labor.

Books that weren’t sold headed down to Jefferson County and once again, the Friends began collecting and storing books for the spring sale.

(Originally published in the October 19, 2017 print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)