ABLE annual book sale begins

A line of roughly 40 people stood in the sun or sat in the shade outside the St. Martins Knights of Columbus hall Wednesday awaiting the Missouri River Regional Library and Adult Basic Literacy Education annual book sale.

The line formed more than hour before the doors opened at 4 p.m. Those in line were waiting to acquire literature for their personal libraries or stock the shelves of book stores, either online or on street corners. Some were armed with the latest apps and wireless barcode scanners to tell them the market values of their finds, while others relied on their own knowledge to determine a book's worth and find the best buys.

"We have been coming since they started it and can't remember when the first year was," said Mela Linn, who was first in line sitting in the shade with her husband, Gary. "I sell some books and keep a lot of books and give away some books. The people here work hard and have a very nice sale."

When asked if the two use a portable digital assistant (PDA) scanner to find the books' market values, Gary laughed and said, "We just use this," while pointing to his head. The two commented they like this sale because it supports ABLE, and they hope it raises a lot of money.

Most books are priced anywhere from 25 cents to $4.

At the opposite end of the line stood Travis and Casey Stump, a young couple with PDA scanners at the ready and loading dollies to lug around their purchases.

"We are looking for anything that sells," Travis said. "We sell on Amazon and eBay and whatnot."

The two have been in business for eight years and have gone to this sale for seven, Casey said. This is her favorite, because of the large inventory and low prices, she added.

When asked about contributing to ABLE's cause, the two were unaware of the organization. They were just trying to make a living, but they said it did feel good helping out.

MRRL has partnered with ABLE for the sale since 1999, said Betty Hagenhoff, MRRL assistant director. It takes many volunteers and year-round planning to create this sale. People from ABLE come to the library throughout the year to sort books and get them ready to be sold.

"We estimate that the total we have out here is 125,000 books, so it is probably one of the largest sales in the Midwest," Hagenhoff said. "Just come and look around, and you can find just about anything you want to find. It is a great place to Christmas shop if you have kids on your list or people that just like to read."

This is her 16th year to work the sale. The proceeds will be split between ABLE and MRRL. This sale is how ABLE receives most of its annual funding, said Marcia Ramatowski, daughter of Amie Morrow, who founded the ABLE program in Jefferson City in the mid-1980s.

"She started Adult Basic Literacy Education because there were so many people that made it through elementary and high school and barely could read," Ramatowski said about her mother. "The main goal is to get people to be able to fill out applications, carry on daily life and know how to write checks. And we work with ESL, or English as Second Language, people to a certain extent, and in middle schools to get kids caught up so they don't want to drop out."

ABLE started the book sale as a fundraiser, along with wine and cheese parties and quilt shows, until they decided selling books made the most sense for an organization that promotes literacy, Ramatowski said.

The book sale runs until Saturday afternoon. It opens at 9 a.m. and closes at 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, and runs from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. Saturday.