By Marissa GOULD, Intern

Last weekend, Rachel Akeson was driving down Foothill Boulevard with her family when her daughter saw a sign at the La Crescenta Library promoting its bi-annual book sale. Her daughter wanted to go to the sale, so the entire family decided to stop by and have a look. They found a room filled with books with genres ranging from science fiction to romance, from cookbooks to religious studies. That little room had it all.

This was the second book sale this year held by Friends of the Library, the first being in April. The sales have been taking place for 34 years. The books are either hand-me-downs from the library or donated by hundreds of local patrons. The library wanted to make sure that every person was able to go home with a book and priced them affordably, from 25 cents to $2. Not only were there books to buy, but also audio books and VHS tapes.

Planning for the sales take about a month. Volunteers email community members encouraging them to donate to the book sale. Once the books arrive, more volunteers show up to help arrange everything. The volunteers range in age from 15 to 75 and all are huge book lovers.

Isabelle Lawler, a student at Clark Magnet, has been helping out at the book sales for three years. She loves meeting new people at the sale and seeing children get excited about reading.

Elaine Silvestro is another volunteer. She said she is just so happy to hear all the stories that people have to tell. Some talk about the reasons behind the books they’re buying or just share how their day has been.

“I’ll see people at the store who I met at the book sale and we can talk again,” said Silvestro. “It’s a great way to get to know the community.”

Last year, the book sale made $2,000, which was given to the La Crescenta Library. The money buys magazine subscriptions and new books and funds dozens of different programs that the library suppports.

The next book sale will be in April 2014.