Hello Book Thing friends,

Thank you to everyone who attended or volunteered at our July opening! Despite rainy weather, we recorded 549 entrances and 454 sign-outs totaling 10,736 books and 203 non-books.

Upcoming events

We will continue our series of book giveaways falling on the second full weekend of the month through the end of the year, pandemic and weather permitting. Our events always alternate between Saturday and Sunday.

  • Sun, Aug 14, 9a-2p/4p – limited book donations accepted until 2pm only, last entrance for browsing is at 4pm. Please see below for details.
  • Sat, Sept 10  – details TBD, limited book donations accepted
  • Sun, Oct 9 – details TBD
  • Sat, Nov 12 – details TBD
  • Sun, Dec 11 – details TBD

Indoor book giveaway: Sunday, Aug 14, 9am-5pm

We will allow patrons into the building to select their own books on Aug 14th, using a timed-entry format. As usual, all lines will form outdoors. Dress for the weather, bring an umbrella if it’s rainy, etc. Here’s what else you need to know:

  • Please remember that masks are still required at The Book Thing for all patrons. (If you have spare masks you want to donate to us, that would be amazing!)
  • 75 patrons will be permitted to enter on the hour each hour from 9am to 4pm. The first entrance will be at 9am, and the last entrance at 4pm. All patrons must exit before 5pm.
  • The line is generally longest for the morning entrances. We do expect to be busy all day, since teachers and families are getting ready for school to start in the fall.
  • Patrons will have 55 minutes to browse our stacks, select their books, and exit the building. The time limit will be strictly enforced. You may get back in line.
  • Upon exiting, patrons will form an outdoor line to count their books and sign out (even if it’s raining).
  • If a patron exits early, a new patron who is waiting may enter “on standby” and use the remainder of the 55 minute time slot. This new patron will not be permitted to stay beyond the end of the time slot, extend into the next time slot, or hold their original place in line for a later time slot. Standby entry means you accept that you will have less than 55 minutes to browse.
  • Please don’t be deterred by our timed-entry format. It helps keep the line moving so that you get a chance to browse sooner, and it lets us serve more patrons.
  • Patrons are responsible for their own social distancing inside the building.
  • One parent may be accompanied by a maximum of two children, and every child must be accompanied by an adult. Please make sure your child wears a mask.
  • Patrons will enter through the red room door and exit through the blue room door.
  • The restroom will be available, but you will not be permitted to enter the building to use it except when it’s your turn to be inside browsing for books. Please plan accordingly.
  • We have lots and lots of spare boxes available to hold your books!

Book donations: 9a-2p

We will open the book donation window on August 14 from 9am to 2pm only.  This is our first of two scheduled book donation days for late summer 2022. We have been making progress on our backlog of boxed books in our off-site warehouse, which makes it easier for us to accept donations.  We know many of you have been saving books for us to share with the rest of the community, and we’re grateful for that! These days, we particularly welcome donations of popular fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, classics, non-diet cookbooks, English dictionaries, and Bibles. We’re finding it hard to keep these shelves full from our warehouse stock alone.

  • Book donation hours are 9am-2pm on 8/14. If we have to cancel the book giveaway for any reason, the book donation hours will also be canceled.
  • The donation limit will be 4 boxes per family. Boxes must be small enough that one person can lift them when full.
  • We accept all types of books except encyclopedia sets.
  • We accept all types of popular and hobby magazines, but we can’t accept sets of academic/technical/professional journals.
  • We accept all types of mixed media except audio cassette tapes. Reminder: no home-made content, please.
  • Please don’t bring us books that are moldy, sticky, stinky, or missing pages/covers.
  • All incoming book donations must be counted. This is a relatively new policy, and we are still learning how to do this efficiently; thank you in advance for your understanding.
  • Unfortunately, we can’t come pick up book donations, nor can we help you unload them from your vehicle.
  • If you have more than 4 boxes of adult fiction or pleasure-reading books for children/teens that you wish to donate, please Contact us separately.
  • We can only accept book donations as outlined above. If you leave books outside of donation hours, you may be cited by the City for illegal dumping.

Finally, if you are interested in volunteering with us, please fill out the Contact form.  We are excited to be moving forward on trainings for small groups of new volunteers.