The Lewis County branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) used book sale returned for the 45th time last Thursday through Saturday at the Moose Lodge in Centralia.
It was AAUW’s best sale ever, with a record amount of funds raised for scholarships for women and other programs.
“Thank you all so much for your support and help in publicizing our annual Lewis County AAUW book sale,” Peggy Hammer of AAUW wrote in an email to The Chronicle. “We thought we had reached our peak last year at $19,500 in sales, but we blew right past that to a whopping $24,000 this year!”
Originally launched in 1979, the book sale’s profits are used to further the AAUW’s core mission: supporting women’s education.
“We have at least 1,200 boxes (of books), and if every box has about 10 books, that’s 12,000 books,” head volunteer Donna Loucks told The Chronicle during a visit to the sale on Thursday.
The book sale opened on Thursday, March 27, and ended Saturday, March 29. On Thursday, prices were $3 for hardcovers and $2 for paperbacks, before dropping to $2 for hardcovers and $1 for paperbacks on Friday. On the last day of the sale, attendees could take home a bag of books for just $5.
Thousands of fiction and nonfiction books, audiobooks, CDs and DVDs were all available.
Nonfiction books were separated into over 50 categories, including biographies, cooking, history, religion, self-help and a large selection of children's books.
Categories of fiction books included mystery, science fiction and many more sorted by their authors.
Loucks has been volunteering at the book sale for about 35 years, she said.
“I like books,” she said. “I’m a retired librarian, and I just like seeing and handling all the old books.”
She’s seen a lot of change and development in the book sale over that time.
“We didn’t use to have nearly as many books as we do now, and they weren’t nearly as well organized,” Loucks said. “So, as time has passed, we’ve gotten better at organizing, and the community supports us by donating books, so they just keep coming in, more and more every year.”
According to Loucks, the AAUW collects books all year, and planning for the sale itself starts in January.
The funds will go toward scholarships for women attending college and girls attending STEM camps, as well as Expanding Your Horizons, a career day co-hosted by Centralia College for middle school girls, according to the AAUW website.
“For 130 years American Association of University Women (AAUW) members have been committed to its mission of advancing equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy, and research,” the AAUW website states. “The Lewis County Branch of AAUW was formed 100 years ago in 1923 and continues to be a vibrant organization where women gather to promote education for women at branch and interest group meetings.”
Founded in 1881, AAUW is the largest and oldest national organization working for the professional and educational advancement of women.
For more information about Lewis County AAUW, email Membership Chairs Kathy Halsan or Cathy Cavness at aauwlcmembership@gmail.com, or visit https://lewiscounty-wa.aauw.net/.
