125718335_web1_2020-Young-Professionals-6

Their time to Shine: WB Chamber ceremony celebrates area’s ‘rising stars’

125713374_web1_united-way-logo.cmyk

United Way of PA releases results of COVID-19 impact survey

Library fans and readers of all ages, rejoice!
				The Friends of the Osterhout Free Library will hold a sidewalk sale 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, and yes, you may choose your own books.
				They&rsquo;ll be set up on tables in front of the library&rsquo;s main building, 71 South Franklin St., Wilkes-Barre, and divided into eight categories: fiction, mystery, science fiction, history, biography, trade, paperback and children&rsquo;s books.
				&ldquo;We feel the &lsquo;bundles&rsquo; have run their course,&rdquo; Friends president Irene Martin said, referring to the bags of books that patrons purchased at earlier, drive-up sales this year.
				Buying books by the bundle, without knowing exactly what was in the bag, undoubtedly introduced many readers to authors they hadn&rsquo;t experienced up to that point, and you can imagine that for everyone who said &ldquo;Hey, this Nora Roberts is pretty good,&rdquo; there may have been someone who said, &ldquo;This is my first Stephen King novel and I really didn&rsquo;t enjoy it, but at least the book was heavy enough to squash that bug.&rdquo; (Something similar happened to these reporter this summer.)
				At Saturday&rsquo;s sidewalk sale, patrons will know what they&rsquo;re getting.
				&ldquo;They&rsquo;ll be about 200 books in each category,&rdquo; Martin said on Wednesday morning as she and several other members of the Friends group sorted books.
				&ldquo;These are all biographies,&rdquo; Barbara Ambrose of Wilkes-Barre Township said as she carried an armload of books about dancer Fred Astaire, musician Louis Armstrong, singer Gene Autry and actors Marlon Brando and Betty Davis.
				&ldquo;Fiction and mystery are our biggest categories,&rdquo; Joan Kwarcinski of Mountain Top said as she loaded history books onto a cart that already held volumes about the Civil War, the Civil Rights Movement and pre-Revolutionary War days as well as stories about monarchs.
				&ldquo;There must be 30,000 to 50,000 books here, no less,&rdquo; Ambrose said, glancing around the Friends&rsquo; storage area in the library basement.
				&ldquo;It&rsquo;s making me sneeze,&rdquo; Karen French of Forty Fort said as she moved books to a cart.
				&ldquo;But we love it, or we wouldn&rsquo;t be here,&rdquo; Kwarcinski said.
				The prices for books at the sidewalk sale include $3 for fiction, mystery, science fiction, history and biography; $2 for trade books; $1 for paperbacks and 50 cents for children&rsquo;s picture books, chapter books and young adult books.
				The sale will be cash only, and visitors are reminded to wear masks and practice social distance.
				Over the past 43 years the Friends of the Osterhout Free Library have donated more than $535,000 to the library from funds raised at their annual book sale. This past June, the group postponed its sale due to coronavirus concerns.

125714063_web1_osterhout.book.sale

125714063_web1_library.big.stack

125714063_web1_library.books

125714063_web1_library.boxes

125714063_web1_library.irene

Friends of the Osterhout Free Library plan sidewalk sale