With a new extended format, the 2023 Wye Parish Books Café opens on Friday January 20 and Saturday January 21, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., for its twentieth year at St. Luke’s Chapel, Queenstown. The popular sale of heavily discounted books and delicious homemade food items will then re-open for the next four Fridays and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., concluding on February 17 and 18.
As in the past, many thousands of carefully sorted books will be offered at 90% off cover or market price. With the new schedule format, however, not only will the shopping opportunities be spread out over a longer period of time, but more re-stocking of books will be done in the intervals between the sale days.
According to Books Café’s organizers, the decision to extend this year’s sale and increase re-stocking was prompted by an unprecedented build-up of inventory at the Books Café Depository. “The generous donations that make Books Café possible have recently been growing faster than ever before,” said sale committee member Mike Bilek of Wye Mills.
Bilek continued: “We have in storage many more books sorted and ready to put out than we can possibly display at one time in the St. Luke’s Parish Hall space. So in between the weekly sale days we’ll be bringing in loads of books from the Depository, as well as taking out books that aren’t finding new homes and sending them on to our redistribution partner, Discover Books of Baltimore.”
Books Café volunteer Jim Campbell of Centreville noted that access to the sale may also be available at unscheduled times during the five-week run: “When we are in the building doing re-stocking, and if the OPEN flag is flying outside, come on in for browsing and buying!”
The largest sections at Books Café are the alphabetized displays of Fiction, current and classic, hardcover and paperback, plus special sections for Mysteries, Historical Fiction, and a larger-than-usual offering of Fantasy & Science Fiction.
Running a close second in popularity to the Books Café Fiction sections is the History section, covering all periods, with expanded offerings in American History and a special section on American Presidents and Their Families. As always, the History section includes an exceptionally wide range of titles in Military History, ranging from detailed accounts of notable air, land and sea battles to biographies of war leaders and comprehensive treatments of major wars.
For younger readers, there is a large and varied collection in and adjacent to the “Young People’s Room” — everything from board books and picture books to easy readers, Newbery winners, popular series, classic stories, nature/science, and teen and YA. The books in the Young People’s Room are sorted into age-appropriate categories and can be conveniently browsed on the spot by the readers for whom they are intended. On higher shelves there are teachers’ materials that may be useful for home-schooling.
Other Books Café special sections, spaced out around the Hall and in adjoining rooms, include Animals, Art/Music/Film, Biography, CDs/DVDs, Cooking, Home & Garden, Humor, Local & Regional, Nature & Environment, Old & Rare, Outdoors, Philosophy & Politics, Poetry, Religion, Sports, Travel, True Crime, and more.
From the kitchen counter, the Café section of Books Café will once again provide hot drinks and snacks to sustain browsers, plus take-out and baked goods for home consumption, all at bargain prices.
Sale proceeds support local community outreach organized by the Parish’s Episcopal Church Women. Books Café accepts cash, checks, and the occasional IOU; no credit card sales. Sales to approved dealers are by advance authorization only; any use of barcode scanners inside the premises is strictly prohibited.
For further information on Books Café, call the Wye Parish Office at 410-827-8484.
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