PHOTO BY BARB BARRETT/The Luminary Barbie Lister and Deanna Doebler are arranging donated books at the Muncy Library. The first Tuesday of every month, customers can obtain books while proceeds go towards programming at the Muncy Public Library.

MUNCY – Attention all book lovers – a treasure of books awaits at the Muncy Public Library to have permanently. For every Tuesday, the Friends of The Muncy Library hosts a used book sale fundraiser for the community of Muncy.

Most recently the inventory has expanded immensely, thanks to a generous donation from the Grange News Agency on N. Main Street which closed on December 31st. “Owner Rick Ohnmeiss donated hundreds of books to the Friends,” said Barbie Lister from Friends of the Muncy Library. “Since then, we have been busy shelving books and adding them to our huge inventory.”

On Tuesday, April 14 from 4 to 6 p.m. books can be purchased for a nominal fee on the second floor of the Muncy Public Library. All books, both fiction and non-fiction. are sorted and categorized by author. “We usually meet about once a month to categorize everything and organize the books,” Lister said. “Many of us our readers, so we just love it,” she added.

There are about six members of the Friends who help with the books. They received boxes of books to sort after the Ohnmeiss family called the library. The Boy Scouts helped to load them up and bring the books to the library from the Grange News Agency. Members have been busy since sorting and shelving all the children’s books by age category.

“Most of the money we earn goes right back into the library, especially for children’s programs,” Lister said. The Muncy Friends of the Library also contribute annually to the McNaughton Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports literary research and a traveling library.

In September there is always a big sidewalk sale and the group hopes to participate in Muncy 4th Fridays selling some of the children’s books. On May 2nd they will be participating in Muncy’s community yard sales.

Anyone is welcome to join the Muncy Friends of the Library according to member Deanna Doebler from Muncy. “Volunteers can shop while they’re working,” she said.

Monetary donations are welcome too, as well as books and movies. “Unfortunately, we are limited on what we can accept,” said Lister. “Please, no textbooks, encyclopedias, harlequin romances, damaged books or VHS tapes.” Donations can be made on the first Tuesday and Wednesday of every month, or look for the orange bin in the foyer of the back entrance during library hours.

Once the books make the shelves, they are current titles, with many popular authors like Patterson, Grisham, Roberts and Higgins-Clark. There are many hardbacks, paperbacks, cookbooks, biographies and children’s books. Anything that can’t be used, gets donated or recycled to the Salvation Army.

Also available are canvas totes and some nice aprons with a graphic of the Muncy Library. The book fundraiser has been going on now for more than 20 years according to Nan Rusczyk, President for the Friends of the Muncy Public Library. “We established a ruling order in 1967,” she said. Rusczyk has served on the Friends executive board since 1981. “Our goal is to support the trustees and the library.” The organization also holds fundraisers, pays for summer programming, purchases DVD’s for the library, does book dedications and offers some tech support.

“We are especially grateful to Clara Wall for all of her decorations and for decorating the doors of the library,” added Rusczyk, “We gave her a Judy Tamagno print for her dedication.”