Gordon Ave. Book Sale

  Thrifting may be on the upward trend in many places, but for most Southerners, it’s a way of life instilled by parents and their eye for antique furniture and hand-me-down valuables. In a brick-blazoned Southern college town, retro fashion boutiques are as common as the used bookstore. Combine the Southern obsession with second hand goods and the academic panache of Charlottesville, Virginia and you’ll find the greatest biannual book sale in the South.

Forty-two books. Nine of them were bought to be given as Christmas gifts. Three were brought home and opened to find unexpected author signatures on the first page. This fall, I came out with all this for less than $25.

I’m not talking about 42 ten-cent romance novels. A signed collection of Ann Beattie (most published woman by the New Yorker, University of Virginia professor of creative writing and Charlottesville resident) stories for fifty cents. A hardback 1940’s copy of James Fenimore Cooper’s Last of the Mohicans for one dollar. Anne Murray and John Denver Greatest Hits LPs for fifty cents.

Amongst my friends, I have an average interest in reading (15-20 books a year). My addiction for finding good used books at a cheap price, though, is far above average. I love everything about a used bookstore—the smell, the people—but can rarely afford more than one or two books. If you find me stepping into a big-box bookstore like Barnes and Noble, I was given a gift card. To satiate my taste for those tattered, smelly shelf fillers, there’s one place that takes the cake.

The Gordon Avenue Book Sale happens twice a year at the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library on Gordon Ave. in Charlottesville, VA. For seven days the bottom floor of the library becomes the most frequented used bookstore in the city. Though not even close to alphabetically organized, browsing is made easy by the genre specific sub-sections – biography, boating, military, outdoors, psychology, religion, poetry, English criticism, fiction, hardcover fiction, gardening, cooking, Virginianna, to name a few. To avoid being overwhelmed, here are a few helpful hints:

1. Go often.
   Even if it’s only a few minutes a day, go for as many days as you can. Books are kept in storage until shelf space opens, so there’s no particular advantage to going on the first day or the last.
2. Carry a canvas bag or a box.
   If your appetite for used books resembles mine, an hour of browsing used books can be hard on the hands. Toss books into a bag and then sort before checking out. Milk crates can be found under many of the tables if you don’t bring your own.
3. Go with a budget (or don’t).
   Setting a budget is never a bad idea. On the other hand, books don’t sell for pocket change, or even two dollars anymore. If it’s something you want to read or might want to read one day, you probably won’t find it for less.
4. Half-off day.
   The book sale usually runs from Sunday to Sunday. The last two days are 50% discount days. Prepare for the crowds by getting your bearings during the week.
5. Don’t forget the other rooms.
   Main room is fiction, mystery, romance, nature, young adult, classics and board games. Behind that room is the music (cds, cassettes, audiobooks). Through that is military, gardening, cooking, outdoors, nonfiction, biography, travel, movies and LPs. The next room contains literature, poetry, history, religion, business and all the sciences. The checkout room holds art, architecture and general oversized coffee table books.

The next Gordon Ave. book sale will be held March 31- April 8. Doors open at 10 am and close at 7 pm. Keep an eye on future book sales by watching http://jmrlfriends.org/booksale.