Katy Tahja posing with books available at the annual Kelley House Book Sale.
While gathering books for the Kelley House Museum book sale, some real treasures materialize! This annual sale takes place on Sunday, May 24 from 10am to 3pm.
Why would Mendocino’s K-8 School Library be donating what looks like useful teacher reference books? The internet is one answer, and the age of the volumes is another. “American Book of Days” offers a bit of history for every day of the year, but it’s over 60 years old and has 697 pages occupying a lot of shelf space. Readers can find those facts in moments now on the internet.
The K-8 Library also needs more shelf space. Just the SIZE of some of these volumes is impressive. For sale will be a 1950 Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations with 1614 pages, a 1962 Roget’s Thesaurus with 1258 pages, and a 1979 Webster’s American Biographies with 1139 pages, weighing in at over two pounds.
A 1960 book titled International Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians has 2475 pages and is sold for $40 online, but we’ll sell it to you for $5. And wouldn’t your home library love Who’s Who in American History 1607-1896 or Oxford History of the American People or Concise Dictionary of American Biography with 1700 entries? This last book weighs in at four pounds, so just lifting it could give you a workout.
The most recent reference book being offered is Page One, New York Times Newspaper Stories 1920-1983, which includes reproductions of the front page of the New York Times across time. Brush up on your language skills with Basic Book of Spanish & English or the 1936 edition of Complete Rhyming Dictionary & Poets Craft Book. Amaze your kids with great reading suggestions after reading Newberry & Caldicott Gold Medal Books 1966-1975 to learn what makes an award-winning book. For animal lovers, two tomes available include Walker’s Mammals of the World and a National Geographic volume titled Birds of the World.
The sale takes place on Sunday, May 24 from 10am to 3pm on the east porch of the Kelley House Museum in Mendocino. Prices are low! The school reference books and anything over 100 years in age will sell for $5. Special treasures and books of local history will be higher in price due to age and rarity.
It’s the final weeks of “Conservation Forever: 50 Years of Mendocino Land Trust.” The last day to view the exhibit is June 1st. The Kelley House Museum is open Thursday-Monday, 11am to 3pm. Visit the Kelley House event calendar for a walking tour schedule.