Westport Quakers Awesome 50th Annual Used Book Fair

Westport Friends Meeting (Quaker)
938 Main Road at Adamsville Road


Westport, MA 02790
50th Annual Used Book Fair front page story
Saturday, July 9, 2011
11 am to dusk (and continuing through the week)

10:45 AM, Saturday, July 9
Bright sunshine reflects off the yellow and white striped tents in front of The Westport Friends Meeting House on Main Road. For hundreds of book lovers, this is the pot of gold at the base of the rainbow. In a quarter of an hour, they’ll be able to dig their hands into the treasure in front of them and take home as much as they can carry. The 50th edition of the Westport Friends Used Book Fair is about to be opened for business.

 

Ready...set...GO!

Shoppers crane their necks to read titles of books stacked on heavy duty folding tables a few tantalizing feet away. Twenty thousand used paperback and hardcover books are piled up on sturdy tables in a space the size of the fruits and vegetables section of your local supermarket. Anticipation hangs in the air like incense. You can almost feel the shoppers twitching with excitement.

At precisely 11 AM, the shrill blast of a whistle announces the 50th edition of the vaunted Westport Friends Used Book Fair is open. The yellow tape surrounding the two tents is lowered and scores of bargain shoppers wade into this bookish nirvana. By noon, customers with satisfied Cheshire cat grins begin to line up to pay for their haul. 

For some, the book fair is the official beginning of summer in Westport and a chance to restock bookshelves and night tables with enough booty to last until next July.

The crowd that dives into the tents is as varied as the book jackets on the tables. Young, old, and in between, they span three generations. The veterans have sacks slung over their shoulders that will soon bulge with books. The first timers always seem surprised to find themselves trying to balance a load of books up to their chins in the crook of their arms. That’s when they discover the reason dozens of empty cartons are stacked against the Macomber Meeting Hall. They stagger outside to drop their treasure into a brown cardboard box and jam themselves back into thick of it.

By 11:30 the space under the tent feels like a humidor, the thick musty scent of thousands of books that have been liberated from attics, garages, and bookshelves and transported to this depot fills the nostrils. Mountains of books have been donated, left in bags and cartons, all year long. Committees have sorted and priced them. Today, they’re on their next glide path.

Forget multi-tasking. This is fierce, concentrated mono-tasking. Amidst hushed voices reminiscent of a public library, people intently scan the spines of books packed chockablock on tables to find that elusive title or that favorite author. The entire mass of people moves as one slow deliberate task oriented organism.  Despite the earnestness of the search, decorum prevails.  No shoving, over-reaching, or squabbling – not to worry if a big one gets away. With 20,000 books piled up, an even better one might be just a few inches and a glance away.

Shoppers with specific lists shuffle side by side with consumers who rake the books in like fishing trawlers.

“If you think you’re even remotely interested, grab it,” says a college kid to his posse.
 
Delores and Edward Charette of Fall River are more particular. “My wife is sending me to the Romance Literature table to find Danielle Steele books she got from the computer,” Edward says. “I have a whole book case of her books. I’m sending him to find some of her older ones,” Delores says as she heads into the literary mosh pit.

Warren, RI resident Hannah discovered the book fair last year. “I’ve been insanely excited for three months and have been saving up my money to spend here. I’m going to have to make more book shelves this year,” she says. “The books I buy here are way cheaper and people here help each other out. If someone sees you pick up a book they say ‘If you like that one, you’ll like this one, too.’” Hannah shook out her piggy bank and shelled out $64. She will definitely need more room on her bookshelves.

An email making the rounds lately entitled “Ten things that will disappear in our lifetime,” cites “physical books that you hold in your hands” as number 4.

If today is any indication, there will be people who still want to touch, sniff, and finger the pages of books for years to come whether they’re card carrying AARP members or college kids like Hannah who read the fifth Harry Potter book in 17 hours straight or grade schoolers who relished finding their own books that filled tables in the Macomber Community House.

   
Greg Marcello, Book Fair Steering Committee Clerk, wasn’t shy about making the most of the occasion. “We hope you spend 50 times more money today, the 50th anniversary of this fair!” he said as the opening whistle pierced the air.

By dusk, a few hundred men, women, and children did their best to comply.

MORE PHOTOS, CAPTIONS

 

Books for 25 cents in the Meeting House...what a deal! Next week, a committee will begin sorting and pricing books for next year in the Book Shed behind the Meeting House.

 
Kids and parents had terrific choices in the Macomber Community House.

Mono-tasking under the tents...a book lovers paradise...categories of mystery, history, religion, philosophy, travel, gardening, cooking, photography, science, science fiction, humor, romance, art, and more.

Any books that remain at the fair's conclusion will be shipped to other booksellers who may send them overseas or recyle them. Encyclopedias and text books don't sell well and are  shipped to other booksellers or recycled, as are thousands of donated books that are so tattered they are not marketable.
 

 

Greg Marcello (top Left), Book Fair Steering Committee Clerk, had lots of help, instantly visible in bright blue T shirts. "You'd be interested to know that this year we've upgraded from tape on the backs of key people to printed t shirts! It only took us 50 years to make that decision!", Meeting member Kevin Lee says.

Kathleen (L) and Jim Shannon (baseball cap)...three generations of Dartmouth book lovers. "We’ve been coming here since before our kids were born,” Kathleen says.

 

Dr. Stewart Kirkaldy (with pt), the family physician who practiced for more than 45 years in Westport, blew the whistle to open the fair. Dr. Kirkaldy, who now resides in Middlebury, VT, has been present at opening day of every book fair since 1961 and until he retired was present in the Westport Friends Meeting House every Sunday.

“Seeing people I know working together to make this community event happen and the huge crowd here almost brought tears to my eyes. People come up and remind me of advice I gave to them during my 45 years of practicing family medicine.”

 

By the way, you're welcome to attend the Meeting Service any Sunday.

Comments

[Joe Maglitta]

Great fun piece ( as usual) Paul! Makes me regret I didnt make it down for the opening. Next year perhaps... And I love the term "mono-tasking"...Keep up the great pieces...

[Paul aka pt at large]

Many thanks,especially coming from a wordsmith like you. Yes, one look at the faces of the rummagers and I could see a single mindedness of purpose prevailed. Trust me, no one was texting or tweeting while fixed on their task under the tents. Mono-tasking all the way!

[Kevin Lee]

Congratulations! A great article and wonderful photos! The photos you sent the last time were just great too. After viewing your pics the photographer in me realizes that it is great to have another person's take and "point of view" when it comes to images.As a meeting member and person who works with children professionally and within ministry settings, I consciously have to remind myself to take a broader view of a given scene and keep the viewing public in mind when I take a series of images. When I'm taking shots at our book fair, I'm usually jamming it in between doing other things too, when I'd really rather just concentrate fully on visitors for hours on end with my camera!

So with this said, how would you feel about having some of your images on our Meeting's Web site (www.westportfriendsmeeting.org) in a section that promotes our annual Book Fair? I would, of course, assign credit to you, etc.I'm the meeting's Web site guy too, so you know.

I will also link to your article in shorelines too.

Again, thank you for doing such a great job in capturing the sense and spirit of our annual Book Fair in both print and image!

[Paul aka pt at large]

You and Greg Marsello and the whole "team" work like crazy during that first morning of the Book Fair - the energy in the air when that 11AM whistle blows is electric. It's rewarding and, as you know, challenging, to capture images of that energy, that concentration, and that sense of fun. I've looked forward to finding it every year and it never disappoints. I get a kick out of watching you dispense "designer bags," plastic from Lees Market, to buyers with an armload of books and no way to carry them and watching other members on your team at the food tent and the cash registers. You all work hard. I know you've been preparing for the day for the previous fifty two weeks!

I feel quite honored have my photos and my Shorelines story used on your web site. As you might have seen, there are lots of photos on my blog, feel free to use any of them. Let me know if you need anything else.

Thanks again for your compliments about my "point of view" with my camera and my writing - very rewarding.

[Kevin Lee]

Hello Paul,

Thanks again for your great story and photos, and for graciously allowing our meeting to use them on our site.

I've posted a piece about this on our Web site at http://www.westportfriendsmeeting.org, which directs folks to your article in Shorelines, and to your blog.