The "Reading Between The Lines" Story

The Franklin & Marshall College field house

It was an ordinary day.  Reading one of the four Journal of the Lancaster County Historical Society phamplets that I just bought at the Friends of the Lancaster Public Library's book sale held at Franklin & Marshall College's field house.  Place is immense and the entire athletic floor is covered with table after table of books, vinyl records, LPs, CDs, DVD's and VHS tapes.  

This young girl came prepared for shopping big!

The library is hoping to raise $90,000 this year and will have to sell quite a few items, since most paperback books go for 50 cents. The fundraiser first began in 1956 when the American Association of University Women (AAUW) sold books in the basement of the Lancaster Public Library on North Duke Street in downtown Lancaster and raised $154.  The AAUW ran their final book sale in 1994 and raised $47,000 before turning over the reigns to the Friends of the Lancaster County Library the following year.  

Boxes of LP's for sale

The amount raised continued to grow with $90,000 raised last year.  This year there are 3,000 boxes of books for sale with each box holding approximately 40 books.  There are also 7,000 LPs for sale this year.  Paperback books cost 50 cents while hardback books go for $2.00.  Speciality books are all marked with a price inside the cover.  The journals I bought were all $2.00 while my wife purchased a few hardbacks and a few paperback novels. We visited the book sale on the second of three days during the early afternoon figuring there would be fewer patrons.  

A young Amish boy shops for just the right book.

Parking lot at the college was more than half filled with approxi- mately 200 or so patrons viewing the tables of items for sale.  The most expensive book for sale this year was "A Murder in Paradise," written by deceased Lancastrian Richard Gehman.  The hardcover book had a price tag on it of $275 and is about the 1950 murder of Marian Louise Baker by Edward Gibbs who was a WWII veteran and Franklin & Marshall College student.  We visited and walked the aisles for over an hour, I took a few photos and after paying for our purchases, we headed back to the car.  I'm sure my journals will help me in writing a few stories for future publication.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.