Pequot Library Pulls Out The Stops For 55th Edition Of Annual Book Sale

FAIRFIELD, Conn. — Over the years, the Pequot Library in Fairfield has received many donations for its annual sale — a set of giraffe fossils, a saddle for a horse, and, yes, what they were expecting, books.

Pequot Library's Director of Communications Adair Heitmann (left), and Executive Director Heather-Marie Montilla (right) pose for a picture in front of the library Friday.
Photo Credit: *Jay Polansky*

More than 120,000 books and media will be offered at the Pequot Library's Annual Book Sale this weekend.
Photo Credit: *Jay Polansky*

Jay Polansky

07/23/2015 1:30 p.m.

As the library kicks off its 55th Annual Summer Book Sale — from Friday, July 24, through Tuesday, July 28, — it will offer 120,000 books, plus CDs, DVDs and records for sale.

The sale will began with the firing of a canon at 9 a.m. Friday. During the sale, some customers will descend on the Great Lawn with Pequot Library canvas bags to tote their loot, while more enthusiastic customers may take a different approach.

“We’ve seen people bring in suitcases on rollers,” Adair Heitmann, the library’s director of communications, told the Daily Voice from one of the few areas of the historic library not piled high with boxes of books.

The sale is scheduled to take place:

Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.,
Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.,
Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.,
Monday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and
Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Prices decrease each day of the sale, event organizers said.

Two featured categories at this summer’s sale are an extensive selection of fly-fishing books with over 40 titles, plus train magazines dating to 1939.

Book titles will vary from children’s books to classic fiction.

“We have something for someone of all ages,” said Heather-Marie Montilla, the library’s executive director.

The library’s sale will also appeal to collectors. A 250-year-old-plus copy of Isaac Walton’s “The Compleat Angler: Or, Contemplative Man’s Recreation” will be offered for sale.

Through The Renée B. Fisher Foundation’s Books for Teachers program, teachers from the Bridgeport and New Haven school districts who applied for grants earlier this year will be able to buy books for their classrooms with vouchers.

Heitmann said the sale is one of the library's largest fundraisers. According to Montilla, the library receives about a third of its budget from the Town of Fairfield and relies on events to raise the other two-thirds.

The library will accept cash, checks, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express. Admission to the book sale is free and open to the public.

Last weekend, the Westport Library offered nearly 80,000 titles for sale during its book sale, The Daily Voice previously reported.

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