After year of hardships, Camas library has ‘very successful’ book sale

The city of Camas’ annual Hometown Holidays celebration comes with its own set of traditions: taking photos with Santa, enjoying the beauty of the lighted holiday tree in front of the LIberty Theatre, grabbing a cup of hot cocoa at Journey Church, listening to Camas student bands and browsing tables lined with used books inside the Camas Public Library’s second-story meeting rooms.

The used book sale, hosted by the Friends & Foundation of the Camas Library, extends beyond the one-day Hometown Holidays event — spanning four days in early December and allowing visitors ample opportunities to score hardbound and paperback books at bargain prices.

The December 2021 book sale, which raised about $6,000 for library services like the popular summer reading program that aren’t directly funded by the city of Camas, was a hit with Hometown Holiday visitors on Friday, Dec. 3, and library foundation board member Francher Donaldson said the sale got off to a great start on Thursday, Dec. 2.

“We did very well yesterday,” Donaldson said on Friday, as a crowd of people — all wearing face coverings to prevent the spread of COVID-19 — milled through books separated into more than 40 categories.

Donaldson and other book sale organizers weathered a few blows in 2020, including the COVID-19 pandemic, which shuttered the Camas library building for an entire year, and led to the cancellation of big events the book sale relies on, including Hometown Holidays and the summertime Camas Days.

And then, of course, there was the flood.

While other libraries were reopening their doors in October 2020, the Camas library was still reeling from an unexpected September 2020 storm that flooded the library’s basement, damaging 45 boxes filled with donations meant for the annual book sale.

Donaldson said community members joined together to help the foundation recover — donating even more books to make up for those ruined by the floodwaters.

Foundation volunteers work for weeks to prepare for the annual December book sale, sorting books into categories, helping transport thousands of books to the library’s second-floor meeting rooms and filling two-hour shifts during the four-day sale.

Donaldson has helped oversee the entire operation for the past decade, and said he felt the December 2021 sale was better organized and tidier than ever before.

It’s been a very good sale so far,” Donaldson said on Friday. “This is not the only source of funding — we have grants and are part of the ‘Give More 24’ efforts, for example — but the sale is the primary source of funding for programs and services not funded by the city.”

The sale’s proceeds will help fund the 2022 Summer Reading Program at the Camas library.

The library foundation’s book sales, which usually take place during the Hometown Holidays and Camas Days celebrations in downtown Camas every December and July, used to bring in around $1,200 to $1,500, but have grown in popularity over the years.

“They’ve become a big deal,” Donaldson said of the book sales, adding that the sale held during the summer of 2021 raised nearly $7,000 for library programs and services.

The library foundation accepts book and monetary donations throughout the year, and recently kicked off a new venture – selling Camas Public Library tote bags, hoodies, T-shirts and other items through an online “merch” store – to help raise funds for library programs and services.

“If you want to show pride for the Camas library, click on ‘Get Involved’ under the ‘Friends and Foundation’ (link on the library website),” Camas Library Director Connie Urquhart told Camas City Council members during the city council’s meeting on Monday, Dec. 6.

The library is hosting a variety of holiday programs this month, including a gingerbread house contest and the chance to send letters to Holly, the North Pole’s librarian, Urquhart said Monday. For more information, visit cityofcamas.us/library.