On The Road: Wilton and Norwalk, Connecticut

One of the best aspects of shopping for used books is finding large-scale used book events. We use Book Sale Finder (http://www.booksalefinder.com/CT.html) and create an itinerary before heading out. Yesterday morning we were able to visit two Fairfield County book sales in Norwalk and in Wilton.

Norwalk, CT
www.NorwalkPublicLibrary.org
1 Belden Ave
203-899-2780 x 126
info@nplfriends.org

This is a wonderful library, but the sale area is small. Yesterday was the ‘free’ day; this is why we call it a ‘book take’ and not a ‘book sale.’ This branch has a small ongoing book sale consisting of one double-sided shelf available for sale year round. Yesterday several book carts were added to the sale. Even with the small selection, we were able to pick up 5-8 books apiece. We got mostly novels, including “A Year in Provence” by Peter Mayle, and “Hannibal Rising” by Thomas Harris. Norwalk Public Library’s next sale will be held in October, please look for more information in the fall.

Wilton, CT
www.WiltonLibrary.org
137 Old Ridgefield Rd
Wilton, CT 06897
(203) 762-3950

This is the second sale that we visited yesterday. This was also a ‘book-take,’ but we chose to donate $5 per box/canvas bag, because events like this are a library’s main fundraiser. This was a very large and varied book sale. We spent over an hour (believe me, this was not enough) gathering books; both of us acquired some ‘wish list’ books. This sale was incredibly well organized, with each book organized by genre and in the case of novels, by author.

Caitlin got many novels and short stories, including “Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim” by David Sedaris and “A Good Year” by Peter Mayle, which adds nicely to her previously acquired copy of “A Year in Provence.” Olia got “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America (The Book) Teacher's Edition: A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction” by Jon Stewart and The Writers of The Daily Show and “Letters of the Century: America 1900-1999” by Lisa Grunwald and Stephen J. Adler.

Parents will enjoy this library’s future sales because there is a large section of children’s and young adult books organized upstairs, separately from the general sale.

NOTE: We used GPS directions to get here. If you don’t know Wilton you may have a difficult time finding this spot because GPS and Mapquest directions will take you to dead end which is technically Old Ridgefield Road but is blocked by train tracks. Actual access to the road is about 300 yards up the main road in the downtown area.