Bibliophiles take heed. Those who love the written word and the smell of ink on paper will want to pay a visit to the Washington Civic Center this weekend as the Friends of the Brown Library hosts its annual book sale fundraiser.

“We have over 1,400 boxes of books coming in,” said Friends of Brown Library President Katie Lake. “That’s more than last year.”

The Civic Center will be packed to the brim with nearly 20,000 books during the four day event, with titles on every topic imaginable. Each volume comes at a value, with hardbacks going for $2, quality paperbacks selling for $1, regular paperbacks at 50 cents and kids books available for just a quarter.

This year’s FOBL Book Sale kicks off Thursday night from 5:30 to 8 p.m. with a special preview for Friends of the Brown Library. The sale then opens to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Finally, bargain hunters are welcome to come and help pick the remaining collection clean Sunday from noon to 3 p.m., with books going for $5 per bag.

Adding to the event’s offerings, Lake says there will also be a variety of reasonably priced CDs and DVDs, as well as one room dedicated to antique collectors volumes and another filled solely with cookbooks.

“It was up to three tables of cookbooks, so we moved them into a room of our own,” Lake said. “The other room is for special value old books. They’re books we could get more than $2 for, because they’ve been researched online.”

While books lovers are sure to find a bargain, they can also take comfort in knowing every cent they spend goes to a worthy cause — enhancing programming at Washington’s Brown Library.

Last year, the sale took in around $18,000, which was used in 2019 to fully fund the library’s reading program for kids and adults, add more resources in the history room and paying for licensing on movies shown at the library, as well as online book collections.

“We’ve also been saving money for any future library expansion,” Lake said. “We’ve been saving up for years, putting money aside in a fund. We were hoping to buy an adjacent property for improvements and parking. I think we probably will give some seed money when they do start any kind of improvements.”

In addition to members of the organization, FOBL also relies on volunteers to help run the event. Tuesday, students from Washington Montessori Public Charter School were among the hands unloading and setting up the books, while others help staff registers during the event.

To learn more about Friends of Brown Library, visit www.friendsofbrownlibrary.com or follow them on Facebook. To learn more about the library and the services it offers, visit washington-nc.libguides.com/home.