For most of us, buying a book isn`t anything to get terribly excited about. We saunter down to the bookstore, flip through a few titles and make a decision when the manager threatens to throw us out.
This is not how the faithful at the Brandeis Used Book Sale go about it.
The annual sale, which takes place for the 27th time Saturday through June 9 in Wilmette, brings out the beast in book shoppers.
”Saturday night–the first night–is always crazy,” says Pat Wainer, who heads publicity for this year`s sale. ”There are people who actually line up to be the first in. They`ve practically formed a club–actually, it`s a closed corporation at this point–of people who are there every year. They get on line early in the morning (the sale opens at 6 p.m.) and just wait
–although they bring chairs to hold their place in line while they go to the bathroom. And by the time we open, the line seems to go on forever.”
What brings the multitudes out? Several reasons. Each year there are about 400,000 books to be had, all arranged by subject. Prices are cheap, ranging from just 50 cents to $4.50, all of which benefits the libraries of Brandeis University in Massachusetts. There are no rejects from last year`s sale–all unsold books are given away after each sale, and the Brandeis group starts each year with a fresh supply of donations. Finally, it`s a genuine North Shore event, around which participants have been known to schedule their lives.
”One man ducked out of his son`s wedding reception to come to the sale,” Wainer says. ”He showed up here in a tux. And this year we got a call from a man who was upset because he had scheduled his two-week European vacation on the assumption that the sale would be over Memorial Day weekend. When he found out it was the next weekend, he called to see if we could change it back.”
The gentleman`s confusion is understandable. This is the first year in memory that the book sale has NOT taken place during Memorial Day weekend. But last weekend coincided with the Jewish holiday of Shavuos, so the book sale was postponed a week. Organizers fear that the changed date will hurt sales.
”We`ve been very nervous,” Wainer says. ”For one thing, we lose the Monday holiday, and that may reduce the crowd. And many people from neighboring states make a point to be in Chicago for Memorial Day for the sale, and maybe now they`ll stay home. And I`m sure there are many people who don`t follow the sale closely, but are used to stopping by during that weekend. But there`s nothing we can do about it.”
Altered dates notwithstanding, nothing is likely to alleviate the chaos of opening night. The sale takes place under several huge yellow tents
–appropriate, perhaps, for the three-ring circus that takes place inside
–set up in the parking lot of the Edens Plaza shopping center, Lake Avenue and Skokie Boulevard. ”By the time the flaps go up, there are 1,300 people waiting to get in,” Wainer says. (This despite the fact that opening night is the only one in which admission–$4–is charged.)
And once the flaps go up, it`s every shopper for him/herself. Armed with shopping carts (added of necessity in recent years to eliminate territory fights over piles of ”saved” books) and reinforced with several children (to reduce the chances of being mauled by a competing shopper`s cart), the serious Brandeis shoppers march through the aisles like Sherman through Atlanta, stopping neither for pity nor remorse. They can`t afford to. ”It`s like a continual traffic jam,” says a veteran opening-night shopper. ”Between the carts and the little kids, you can`t move. If you see a book you want, grab it fast, because someone else is reaching for it at the same time. And”–she shudders–”stay clear of the cookbook aisle.”
Such inconveniences don`t deter the serious book hunter, for whom the Brandeis Used Book Sale must be heaven on earth. At bargain prices, buyers can fill out their collections, students can stockpile Cliff`s Notes and budding doctors and lawyers can load up on still-relevant texts. The home improvement section has enough information to show you how to build a house from scratch. The fearsome cookbook section holds enough recipes to start a first class restaurant–in fact, Wainer claims, the Bakery`s own chef Louis Szathmary, a renowned cookbook collector, is a regular visitor here.
And there`s the lure of finding a truly rare and valuable book at a giveaway price. Ordinarily, such books are set aside for a special auction, and one Brandeis volunteer, Paula Katz, is legendary in her ability to spot a rare book from two aisles away. But some slip through. ”People love to run up to us and say, `Gotcha. This is worth $20, but I`m getting it for $4,”` says Wainer. ”But that`s OK, although I suspect the checkers grit their teeth when that happens.”
Despite the variety, there are two things that are virtually impossible to find at the Brandeis book sale. The first is pornography. Some porno is donated along with other books, but it`s quickly weeded out. ”We all read it first, but then we throw it out,” laughs Wainer.
The second scarcity is a Brandeis alum. The North Shore volunteer organization always has used non-alums, but now the non-alums are greatly in the majority. ”I`m not from Brandeis, and my children didn`t go,” Wainer says. ”Offhand, I can`t think of any volunteers who went there. I volunteer here because it`s a good cause.”
