Booth Library is hosting its fall book sale Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. outside the south entrance of the library.

Arlene Brown, office manager in Booth Library, said the book sale happens every semester.

“We do it once in the fall near family weekend,” she said. “We do it once again during National Library Week in the spring.”

Brown said the sale will include many different topics of books, including children’s, history, English and math books, as well as VHS tapes, DVDs and LPs.

She also said the library receives donations weekly, so everything at the sale is heavily discounted.

“Usually when we get a donation, we look first to see if we need it in our collection,” she said. “If we have an older or damaged version of the same book, we might replace it (with the donated book) so as long as we pull one out of the collection, it would go into the sale.”

She said hardback books will be sold for $2, and paperbacks will be sold for $1.

Beth Heldebrandt, the public relations director at Booth Library, said the sale is a way to get many books at a discounted price.

“You get some bargains if you come to the book sale,” she said.

Heldebrandt said there will be hundreds of books available at the sale.

“We separate tables by topic,” she said. “Hopefully that makes it easier for people to find what they want.”

Brown said purchases can be made using cash, check and credit cards.

“(Being able to use a credit card) is fairly new for us, and students really like that,” Heldebrandt said. “We had a lot of requests. People wanted to buy books and they would come up with their credit cards, so they would have to run to the ATM and come back, but they don’t have to do that anymore.”

Brown said proceeds from the book sale will go to purchase new items or replenish old or damaged items in the library’s collection.

Heldebrandt said the sale is an event that many look forward to because they can get books at such a discounted price.

“Dan Hagen, a journalism professor, comes to the book sale every year,” Heldebrandt said. “Then he posts about the things he bought and what a bargain it was. He always finds something really rare, and he’s very excited about it. He’s a very strong library supporter.”

Brown said there are representatives from local book stores that arrive first thing in the morning and buy as much as they can.

“(The representatives) come and buy cartons and boxes of books,” she said, “So, if you want to get here before them, you’re going to have to get here early.”

Heldebrandt said it is a good idea to get there early.

“There’s a better selection if you arrive in the morning,” she said, “but there will be plenty of books throughout the day.”

Hannah Shillo can be reached at 581-2812 or hlshillo@eiu.edu.