FRACKVILLE - There will be something for everyone at the ninth annual Republican-Herald and News-Item four-day used book sale starting Thursday at the Schuylkill Mall.
The annual event will once again have about 50,000 gently-used books, including fiction, nonfiction, history, children's, science fiction, fantasy, cooking and other topics. This year's sale will be in the old Gap store in the Black Diamond wing of the mall.
"It gets packed. The first day, we usually have a line that goes halfway down the mall," said Janet Joyce, The Republican-Herald marketing and community service director. "It's a good event. There's low prices for all the books."
Joyce said the prices of the books remained the same the past several years. Prices are $1 for paperbacks, $3 for hardcover, and five thin romance books for $1. She said there are probably more children's books this year than ever before.
"Even though things like the Kindle and Nook are popular, people still like to hold a book in their hand," Joyce said.
All proceeds from the book sale fund the Newspapers in Education program, which provides local schools with newspapers and educational materials for free. The materials are used for various topics including current events, language arts, geography and science.
Joyce said The Republican-Hearld is not allowed to give away newspapers as all copies need to be accounted for auditing purposes.
"It helps keep tax dollars lower at the schools," Joyce said.
Joyce said the book sale has increased significantly every year, basically by word of mouth.
The event also has its loyal customers that return every year. Joyce said some even make a vacation out of it as they stay with friends and family in the area just to attend the sale.
"One of our loyal shoppers just sent us an email and said it is a time they get to meet up with people that they didn't see in a while," Joyce said. "It's a family event for them where they would talk, visit, shop, have lunch, then come back later in the day to shop some more."
From Thursday through Sunday, employees from The Republican-Herald and the News-Item, along with their families, will be selling the books during regular mall hours and earlier Thursday morning so mall employees can attend.
Hours for the sale are 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
On the final day, Joyce said people can take home a bag full of books for $5.
"There are so many books, there's always some good ones left," Joyce said.