Library News: Camano Island’s Secret Book Store

Camano Island’s Secret Bookstore
How many Camano residents know of the beguiling used bookstore on the island? This gem of a book lover’s trove is housed in a convenient corner of the Camano Island Library at Terry’s Corner and is operated by the Camano Island Library Friends volunteers.
Though the book sale space is small, it’s well stocked with most genres of books for all ages and interests. The selection is constantly changing as books go home with new owners.
On a recent perusal of the shelves, three vintage titles including a child’s early reader and a 1926 edition of Beau Gest were displayed, along with best-selling fiction by Isabel Allende, Tom Clancy, and Clive Cussler. There were classics: Frankenstein, Jane Eyre, and Richard Henry Dana Jr.’s Two Years Before the Mast.
Cookbooks, reference works, biographies, books on pets, health, parenting, and autos rotate through the stock.
Parents who like to keep fresh reading coming home for their children can find board books, chapter books, and teen titles, everything from Winnie the Pooh and Curious George to potty training fiction.
Check out the Playstation games, jazz and classical CDs, and assorted DVDs alongside tourist guidebooks and heaps of paperbacks. Often there’s a sale: all the volumes you fit in a bag (provided) for $1. Otherwise, pricing is based on the type of book, ranging from 50 cents to $1.
Money from the sales all goes back into our library, providing weekly children’s programs during the year, kids’ reading incentives in the summer, and the “Together, We Read” event each year with live author visits and other events.
While the Library Friends officially provides this convenient book sale, library manager David Menard gets the credit for constantly keeping the selection varied and stimulating.
While browsing the selections, you can also pick up info about joining the Library Friends—new memberships include a free book bag!  – Karen Schmidt, Camano Island Library Friend