This time each year, the "Friends of Lancaster County Library" put on an enormous book sale at a local roller rink.  Tables made of plywood and saw horses are lined up and more than 200,000 books, records, tapes, and CDs are unloaded (or in boxes) above and below the tables.  People come from all over for this.  I, however, only had couple of miles to drive.

I made it over on Monday morning, about an hour after it opened and it was packed.  I was pleasantly suprised to pull into a close spot as someone left.  I was ready with my 20 bucks and red tote bag.  I made my way in and had a plan.  First stop: Religion Section.  I have been looking for a Madeline L'Engle book and was hoping to find it there.  I made one grave mistake, though; I did not wear protective gear.  As I made my way to the tables, I remembered the dangers of the Religious Book Section at this particular sale.  I sidled up to the table by some seemingly nice Amish ladies.  They were minding their own business, paging through some Christian self-help books from the 70's.  Suddenly, a man with a large box elbowed me out and started grabbing at books.  Although I'm sure there are rude people everywhere, especially at large events like this, my friends and I always comment on the Relligious Book Bullies.  It was obviously not the "Christ-like Section".  

Next stops were the Classic Literature, Paperback Novel, and Mystery sections.  As I shopped, I enjoyed listening in on conversations like "Hey, good to see you."  "Yeah, I'm not here to socialize... let's meet at 9:00 for coffee".  

I can usually pick out the book shop owners/book collectors.  They pull out their PDA's and meticulously kept lists to keep track of their finds.  Some have boxes, others have wagons and carts and leave with them loaded down with their finds.  Others, like me, wander around glassy eyed, carefully weaving through the crowd with a couple of books i n mind... but mainly buying on a whim.  I have been known to come home with a couple of duplicates.   This year, although I didn't find my Madeline L'Engle to complete the trilogy (I"m currently reading Circle of Quiet) I left having spent 6.89 with 12 new gems to add to my overflowing bookshelves, the wonderful smell of old books on my hands and clothes ... and a possible bruise on my right arm.  Yes, Spring has arrived.