Goodwill bookstore has a wealth of titles
Posted on 02/01/07 08:09 AM
TARA - When their spouses went golfing, Sally Bethel and Linda MtJoy went on an outing of their own.
The two went on a shopping trip that saw them stopping at the Goodwill bookstore near the intersection of Tara Boulevard and State Road 70. The bookstore celebrates its second birthday Saturday with a 25 percent-off sale.
Bethel, who lives in Palm-Aire, likes to read and visits the bookstore on occasion. But MtJoy, visiting from Ohio, loves to read and was more than happy to accompany her friend.
MtJoy picked up books about playing the guitar, something she's teaching herself to do. Bethel reads mysteries and "feel-good stories," but on this day she only took home a greeting card.
A rack of cards stands just inside the store's front doors. From the outside, the store - a converted bank - looks like any other Goodwill. Inside, though, it contains tens of thousands of books and not much more.
"When we established that bookstore two years ago, we were kind of the only game in town from the standpoint of used books," said Patsy French, director of marketing and communications for Goodwill Industries of Manasota.
Every Goodwill store in Manatee and Sarasota counties has books, but there are only two stores that are strictly bookstores. The other local Goodwill bookstore is in Sarasota, on the corner of Bee Ridge and Cattlemen roads. That location has been open six years, French said.
When it opened, most Goodwills hadn't come up with a way to make the most of the books that are donated, but Goodwill Industries of Manasota devised a model that works, she said. Now, there are Goodwill bookstores in Tallahassee; Memphis, Tenn.; and Toronto.
Employees make sure each book is in good condition, French said, and most of them are donated that way.
"We have a wonderful donor base, and book lovers are kind of unique people because they think books are special and want them to be passed along to people who will also enjoy them," she said.
And the books in the Goodwill bookstore aren't any old books strewn about on card tables. They vary from new releases to collectibles. All of them are deeply discounted, with an average price of $2.99.
Collectibles get their own room, as do books for children and young adults, and those on cooking, health and fitness. Shelves running the length of the store hold trade paperbacks, romance novels, college textbooks, travel guides and more. Several shelves hold DVDs and videotapes; magazines are about the only things the bookstore doesn't carry.
The store's employees pride themselves on their organization, said assistant manager John Drake. Most of the books are arranged in alphabetical order according to the author's last name. Some stand upright, but others lie on their sides, making their titles and authors easier to read.
Between 300 and 500 books make their way to the store every day, and books don't stay on the shelves longer than three months, Drake said.
And many don't stay even that long. Customers' eyes drifted over books that were new to the store as Drake and another employee cleaned and priced them.
Lucy Childers was one of those customers. Childers heard about the Goodwill bookstore from a friend and admittedly didn't expect to find much there. After browsing for only a few minutes Monday afternoon, she changed her tune.
"I can't believe it. There are brand-new books here," she said. "This is a hidden gem. It really is."
Article Written by Tiffany St. Martin for The Bradenton Herald.
