AUBURN - Literacy Volunteers of Cayuga County executive director Elisa Hunt said that 19 percent of the people in the county - nearly one in five - read below a fifth-grade reading level.
“Our goal is to bring the level of literacy up in the community,” Hunt said. “We truly believe that this is very important part of life, to help people bring up their literacy levels.”
Hunt said people from the community regularly drop off books to the agency's offices at Willard Chapel in Auburn and that three years ago, the idea to host a summer book sale with all these books began to take life.
The weekly summer book sale, which kicked July 9, also coincides with the Wednesday Tiffany Concert series, which is hosted at the chapel.
“It seemed like good timing,” Hunt said. “We had so many books in here we didn't have a place to sit down in here. The concert helps to bring more people in here and they will stop and look and pick up some books. We also do this once in the winter and every Wednesday all summer. We have had a really good response from people coming in and picking up books.”
The sale ties in perfectly with the mission of Literacy Volunteers.
“The whole idea is to get people reading,” Hunt said. “This is another way we can help to promote that idea and this gets more books out there and get more people interested in reading and helps to promote that message.”
With paperbacks going for 50 cents, hardcovers for a dollar and the option to fill a bag for $3 - with a wide variety of books, ranging from children's books, to literary classics - there is something for book lovers of all ages and all budgets.
“Even books are getting more expensive now,” Hunt said. “So a lot of people will come down here and buy a bunch of books or fill a bag of books.
“ One of the great things is, a lot of people will buy the books, read them and then donate them back. So it is doubly beneficial for us.”
On Wednesday morning, Lynn Jordan, of Auburn and her friend, Marissa Adams, 10, made their second trip to the sale.
Both were impressed with the wide variety of books.
“We both really enjoy to read,” Jordan said. “Marissa really likes books on nature and animals and children's mysteries, and today I found some mystery books, too. I think they have a nice selection here.”
And with books so moderately priced, readers such as Jordan and Adams could also take the opportunity to see what new authors have to offer.
“I think it is nice they are so inexpensive,” Jordan said. “I decided to pick up some new authors that I've heard about I'm not too familiar with and see what their books are like.”
Efforts such as the summer book sale go to help support the numerous volunteer based reading and writing programs the Literacy Volunteers hosts throughout the year.
“We'll be starting our next training in September,” Hunt said. “Things like this help support what we are doing and help to get the idea of how important reading is out there.”
If you go
What: Literacy Volunteers book sale
When: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesdays through Aug. 27
Where: Willard Memorial Chapel, 17 Nelson St., Auburn
To learn more about Literacy Volunteers programs or to
volunteer, call 253-5241
Hunt said people from the community regularly drop off books to the agency's offices at Willard Chapel in Auburn and that three years ago, the idea to host a summer book sale with all these books began to take life.
The weekly summer book sale, which kicked July 9, also coincides with the Wednesday Tiffany Concert series, which is hosted at the chapel.
“It seemed like good timing,” Hunt said. “We had so many books in here we didn't have a place to sit down in here. The concert helps to bring more people in here and they will stop and look and pick up some books. We also do this once in the winter and every Wednesday all summer. We have had a really good response from people coming in and picking up books.”
The sale ties in perfectly with the mission of Literacy Volunteers.
“The whole idea is to get people reading,” Hunt said. “This is another way we can help to promote that idea and this gets more books out there and get more people interested in reading and helps to promote that message.”
With paperbacks going for 50 cents, hardcovers for a dollar and the option to fill a bag for $3 - with a wide variety of books, ranging from children's books, to literary classics - there is something for book lovers of all ages and all budgets.
“Even books are getting more expensive now,” Hunt said. “So a lot of people will come down here and buy a bunch of books or fill a bag of books.
“ One of the great things is, a lot of people will buy the books, read them and then donate them back. So it is doubly beneficial for us.”
On Wednesday morning, Lynn Jordan, of Auburn and her friend, Marissa Adams, 10, made their second trip to the sale.
Both were impressed with the wide variety of books.
“We both really enjoy to read,” Jordan said. “Marissa really likes books on nature and animals and children's mysteries, and today I found some mystery books, too. I think they have a nice selection here.”
And with books so moderately priced, readers such as Jordan and Adams could also take the opportunity to see what new authors have to offer.
“I think it is nice they are so inexpensive,” Jordan said. “I decided to pick up some new authors that I've heard about I'm not too familiar with and see what their books are like.”
Efforts such as the summer book sale go to help support the numerous volunteer based reading and writing programs the Literacy Volunteers hosts throughout the year.
“We'll be starting our next training in September,” Hunt said. “Things like this help support what we are doing and help to get the idea of how important reading is out there.”
If you go
What: Literacy Volunteers book sale
When: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesdays through Aug. 27
Where: Willard Memorial Chapel, 17 Nelson St., Auburn
To learn more about Literacy Volunteers programs or to
volunteer, call 253-5241
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