Did you know that the Central Library has a Cellar? OK…it’s really a basement, but I like the clever play on words, when you consider that library volunteers and others organize and “SELL” new and used books there. I visited the Book Cellar, located at 600 Soledad San Antonio, TX 78205. The Phone is: (210) 227-9519. The hours of operation are Monday through Wednesday from 11:00 am until 3:00 pm, Thursdays from 11:00 am until 7:00 pm and Friday through Sunday from 11:00 am until 3:00 pm.
According to Linda and Evelyn, Cellar staff, you can find books that have been taken out of circulation from the branches of the San Antonio Public Libraries, books that have been donated from private estates and even that for whatever reason other book sellers and bookstores, decided to donate volumes and volumes of books to The Book Cellar. I also spoke with Rowena and Margret. Rowena asked me if I was there to take her on a date and Margret, took her glasses off, looked me in the eyes and asked me who I was. Charlie was there too; he was busy in the back.
Book Cellar Fun Facts
• Prison librarians from area prisons come to the Book Cellar to purchase books for their clientele.
• The Book Cellar is a great place for Teachers, and those that aspire to teach to gather literature resources.
• One Hour Free Parking at the Central Library location.
• Book Cellar web site: http://guides.mysapl.org/content.php?pid=37834&sid=278159
The prices you ask? Let me tell you…the prices! I bought four books for one-dollar and fifty cents that ended up having a potential value of six-hundred and two-dollars and twelve-cents. This doesn’t include the value that the joy of reading or the sharing the written word brings to me, difficult for me to put a price on something like that.
Below is a summary of the books that I selected, what was paid and an approximant value of the books purchased or savings.
“The Land of Nod and Other Poems for Children” by Robert Louis Stevenson, a hard cover book for seventy-five cents. On line I found a “paperback” copy of the same book that listed for five-hundred-ninety-four dollars and sixty-nine cents. Wow…I have a book worth five-hundred-ninety-three dollars and ninety-four cents.
The second book I selected is entitled, “Zalta’s Diary, a Child’s Life in Sarajevo”, by Zalta Filipovic and paid twenty-five cents for it. The book is about an eleven-year old girl that lives through the war in for two years in Sarajevo Bosnia and is eventually allowed to leave the country with her family. Amazon sells the exact copy for one-cent, a penny…ok..I know, but the revised edition list for 15.99, plus shipping plus 3 to 9 days of waiting for the book to arrive, Cha-Ch’ing, cost of the book is going up. The revised edition has a different front cover…with a photo of Zalta, with lots of barbed wire and demolished building. A new photograph, increase of price, plus, plus: I’ll spend the extra .24 cents.
The third book selected is entitled, “Created by God, About Human Sexuality for Older Boys and Girls”, by Doris Brown Glass with James H. Ritchie. Created by God takes on the spiritual approach to addressing exactly what the title says it’s about; “About Human Sexuality for Older Boys and Girls”…Not sure how I’d use this book in a public school classroom. It would be a great resource to use for answering some of the hard to answer questions children ask. Anyway, I paid fifty-cents. The online book store named after a river in the brazilin jungle has it listed, new, for 6.95 cents. My savings on this book was a whopping, six-dollars and forty-five cents.
And book number four is entitled “Bali, Life and Legends, An activity book with seventeen worksheets, filled with facts and information on the Balinese-Indonesian way of life. I got it for twenty-five cents. I did not find this book listed on any of the webs book stores, but it did have a price tag listing it for, 1.98, half of the second originals sellers’ price. So…I can safely say that I saved about one-dollar and seventy-three cents.
All in all I had a great time talking to the staff and browsing through the book selections at the Book Cellar. Now if I can only find a book teaching me how to make time stand still I could stay for more than an hour.
Great information, I never thought about what libraries did with their old books. No way to slow down time and the older you get the faster it goes!!!!
ReplyDeleteThis was quite an entertaining entry! :) I am definately going to have to go and check this place out; cheap books and free parking- double bonus! The Bali book sounds perfect for activities dealing in the social studies area and if anything else
ReplyDelete"Created by God" could prove to be a useful resource with our children at home.