To venture down to the basement of the Wilton Library, home to just part of the grand Spring Book Sale, is to transcend oneself into the synonymously storied lives of Pat Gould and Jan MacEwen, two of the library’s most treasured volunteers extraordinaire, long time friends and definitive hard passers on all things science fiction (and sometimes fantasy).
Lesley Kirschner caught up with the dual masterminds behind the spring sale, (Friday-Monday, May 2-5, and just one of four that the library holds throughout the year) for a behind-the-scenes scoop on what makes stories sell, the importance of raising readers and (the twist you didn’t see coming) why you should definitely stop by the book sale for a hot dog next weekend.
1. Wilton Library is such a centerpiece in our community, such a revered resource. What specifically makes the Wilton Library Association Book Sale unique, and what can newcomers who maybe haven’t experienced the sale before hope to find here among the trove of treasures?
Pat Gould: I always think of the sale as being a community event because we’re a community of people who put the sale together. I think that’s part of the joy of the group. We love to read. We love the library. It couldn’t get better.
We get a lot of (book) donations from people in other towns because a lot of the surrounding towns (with maybe the exception of Westport) don’t do their own book sales.
Janet MacEwen: Minks to Sinks is the same weekend, too, which is good because we’re getting a lot of those customers, hopefully.
Gould: We used to start our sale on Saturday, but now our first day is Friday… that’s when a lot of the book dealers come. But Saturday is still really the main event. The Wilton Rotary Club sells hot dogs and we have the creamery truck coming.
MacEwen: If there’s food, that drives people. Even with our volunteers, we’re always having potlucks and reasons to celebrate something. It’s a social event [putting together the sale]. Most of us retired from our paying jobs so we could volunteer here. [Laughs]
Anyway, the first day, the sale opens at eight o’clock for people who pay a little extra ($20) and are serious buyers. Then, at 10 o’clock, it opens up for everybody.
Gould: I think the best picture really is to see all the kids on the floor reading books. I love that!
We also have quite a few vintage books. We put those in the gallery. I think it makes the whole gallery look so nice and neat.
MacEwen: I want people to know about this sale. Our lawn signs went out this past weekend and we put up a lot of flyers and made the rounds.
2. It’s my understanding that an army of volunteers helps to create the masterpiece that is this book sale. Can you tell me a little bit about the behind-the-scenes of what goes into the undertaking of something like this, and how prospective volunteers might get involved for next time?
MacEwen: Yes. We have about 45 year-round volunteers. Some of them sort books. Some price them. Mondays and Thursdays are really our big days. But some people just like to come alone on their own time.
Gould: We have a wonderful group of sorters and they really do go through every single book to make sure they’re not written in or underlined because the idea is to sell them.
But we always really need people for the actual sale… manning the door, making sure everything is out, all the logistics…
MacEwen: We basically always need people to work the sale and we do get a lot of new people coming, and that’s also how they get familiar with the space. It gives them a way also to decide what they actually would like to do moving forward (in terms of volunteering for the event).
Gould: We have people who like to cashier and people who prefer to reorganize the books. It gets very busy. Things get out of order. Jan and her husband are cashiers all three days…
MacEwen: Not all day. [Laughs]
Gould: But a lot of us from “the team,” we just sort of step in when it gets busy. The library board and staff are all very supportive.
MacEwen: Caroline [Mandler, Wilton Library Executive Director] works some of the shifts, too.
3. Did the two of you meet at the library? You’ve both been in town a long time. Was it your love of reading that brought you to friendship?
Gould: I remember the first time I met Jan. She was doing AFS [American Field Service] interviews and my daughter had been an AFS student, but I didn’t know Jan. She was still just a name. But certainly once we got on the board together, I think we really got to know each other.
MacEwen: We had an AFS student living with us, and the high school always had several young people from different countries. It was amazing.
4. In a world where cursive writing is a lost art form and no one knows who Spot is or has any clue why it would be entertaining to see him run, what would you say to parents about the importance of raising readers?
Gould: I think it’s two things. I think you have to give them the choice to read what they want, but they have to also allow you to make a choice for them.
MacEwen: I think you should try to read with your kids every day, maybe at bedtime, and you should have books around… and to have a relationship with the library. I even think Kindles are okay. Reading is reading. I don’t know that it really matters, the format…
Gould: especially for reluctant readers.
5. If you could have just one book in your possession for the rest of your life, what would it be? Or maybe even what author or genre?
MacEwen: The only thing I can think of are the books I take off the shelf more than once a year… maybe Robert Frost? I don’t like science fiction, and I like women authors better than men.
Gould: I’m always in awe of new authors and their debut novels. I don’t like sci-fi either… or fantasy.
Kirschner: I love a good suspense novel. You ladies like suspense?
Gould: [lights up] Gone Girl!
Kirschner: Girl on the Train!
Gould: Right! An “I didn’t see that coming” sort of thing, where there’s a good twist at the end. Feel-good books are great, too. Like, West with Giraffes.
We both love to read, to share books, to say, “Here, try this.”
MacEwen: Reading just gets you into a different world.
Gould: One Thousand White Women! Wait, I’m not sure that’s my final answer.
(But for now it might just have to be).
The Wilton Library Association Book Sale will run Friday, May 2 (8 a.m.-5 p.m.), Saturday, May 3 (10 a.m.-5 p.m.), Sunday, May 4 (1 p.m.-5 p.m.), and Monday, May 5 (10 a.m.-5 p.m.). For more information, visit the Wilton Library website.
Love you, Pat!! You’re amazing.