In a previous post, I lamented over arriving at the last Friends of the Library sale after a portion of the fiction section had been gone through by those using a handheld scanner.
Today, there was only one person with a scanner, and she was considerate enough to not hoarde and to always move out of the way of someone trying to look at the shelves where she was scanning. I was still put out by the practice, but I have to say, this particular woman made it a much more pleasant experience than the last time.
I did find it interesting that she passed up some books I thought for sure would’ve been snatched up. One in particular was my “find” of the day: Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas and Other American Stories. Really? This won’t sell on eBay or Alibris for a profit?
I’m not sure what upsets me more. The fact that these people come to library sales and go through stacks faster than ravenous locusts, or that there isn’t much value placed on a book like Thomson’s. No, it’s not a first edtion. But it is an anniversay printing that includes many of Ralph Steadman’s illustrations. I guess some value is better assessed by the heart than the dollar. At least it is in mine.
Here is the complete haul:
- Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
- London Observed by Doris Lessing
- Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
- All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
- Cider House Rules by John Irving
- 24 Stories by Willa Cather
- In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens by Alice Walker
- A Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane
- The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Amy Tan
- Eva Luna by Isabel Allende
- The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli
- A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
- A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean
- The Hummingbird’s Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea
- The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
Quite the ecclectic bunch: historical fiction, several anthologies, a Pulitzer winner, banned/challenge books, a mystery – my library is looking better and better.
So. How was your weekend? Did you find something that you’d been looking for?
Maybe something someone else passed over, not realizing it does have value – just not the kind that makes you money on eBay.
what a great haul. i so love library sales, but loath the “scanner sect”.
The “scanner sect” are new to our area, as last month was the first I’ve seen their handiwork. We’ll see over the next couple of sales how this goes and whether or not further action needs to be taken.
I love these sales and I want to help our library any way I can. But not at the expense of the losing patrons because they cannot compete, or deal with, those with scanners.
Oh wow what awesome finds. I am excited you got Speak and urm Hello who passes up Thompson?
Thanks Pam. And yeah, who does?
Actually, I bet Thompson doesn’t suit everyone. Which is fine. More for us!
You have a great stack! Cider House Rules is a great read.Maybe the bookseller had several copies of Thompson?
I hope so. Or maybe she doesn’t carry that kind of stock. I tried to get a look at what she was putting in her box, but she was going too fast and I didn’t want to be too nosy. Especially since at the time, I didn’t know if she had a chip on her shoulder like some others I’ve seen using scanners.
Which I understand. Especially If they are as rude as I’ve heard – then they better be on the defensive. As I said, luckily, this one was courteous. She got a few nasty looks, but no one said anything or bothered her. And she always tried to get out of the way of someone who wanted to look at the same shelf of books.
I have never heard of people using handheld scanners when shopping for books. You learn something new everyday.
Great haul.
Thanks Monique! I always seem to do well at finding books, much to the consternation of my family.
Apparently there are people who make money selling used books on the internet. Some are not as knowledgeable as some booksellers, so they use either a scanner or a modifed cell phone to look up the bar codes against a database that will tell them instantly what the book is worth.
I actually would like a scanner for my own home library. It would be helpful in logging in my new books and keeping track of the old ones. But to use them in the way I’ve seen? I don’t particularly care for it. Unfortunately, many of these internet sellers have left a wake of bad feelings behind them because of what they do and how they do it. I would like to see some kind of policy made, but many times it doesn’t come about until there are complaints made.
Those scanners killed my favorite book sale. It was held by the newspaper in Houston. Those people ruined it for the rest of us.
This is still a concern for me. I’ve done some research and found that another library system had the same problem and so did a survey to determine if they were the same at all the sales, and what was done to correct the problem. They were looking into instituting a general policy regarding allowing scanners. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to determine the outcome.
I’m hoping it doesn’t become an issue here, but if it does, I will take that information, as well as my concerns, to those that run the sale. I hope we can come to an agreement so that our sales are not ruined like yours was.
I am so sorry you had such a terrible experience. As much as I want to see a library succeed, and others able to make money in order to pay bills, it does come down to etiquette and consideration. Neither of which happends when others are allowed free rein to behave badly.