If happiness is a good book, the sales at these Johnson County branches will delight

Emily Bratton’s face brimmed with happiness as her husband, Cody Bratton, carried a bin full of books.

It was another great buying trip for the Brattons at the Friends of Johnson County Library’s book sale.

“This place is most amazing place ever,” said Emily Bratton.

The Brattons are big readers with big hearts. The Shawnee couple are foster parents who find the book sale’s huge selection and low prices perfect to ensure a plentiful and varied supply of reading for the foster children, ages birth to 5, coming into their home.

The Brattons are among the thousands of patrons of the book sales that ultimately benefit the Johnson County Library and the Olathe Public Library.

The Friends of Johnson County holds its book sales from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays at its headquarters, 8279 Melrose Drive, Lenexa.

Olathe’s Friends of the Library operates a bookstore, with varied hours daily, at its Indian Creek Library, 16100 W. 135th St., Olathe. They offer discount days for military, educators and seniors. In addition, it holds quarterly book sales, including one coming up this weekend at Indian Creek Library. The Olathe sale will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, and from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday.

And while the individual purchases could be as small as 50 cents a book, the grand totals of these sales are huge. The Friends of Johnson County has given more than $2.5 million to the library since 1999 making it the single largest donor to the library.

The books come to these sales come two ways: individual donations and donations made from the libraries.

The books from the libraries are lovingly called “library weeds” because these books are literally weeded out of circulation. Often libraries purchase multiple copies of a wildly popular newly published book. As the popularity of those books dwindle, it just makes sense to weed out copies in order to make space on book shelves for new books.

And then there are book donations from individuals.

“There are more community donations than weeds,” said Shanta Dickerson, executive director of the Friends of Johnson County Library. “That was surprising to us.”

Regardless on how the book might come, the first step is to determine whether a book might be sold online. In Johnson County, a book must produce a profit, after fees and shipping, of at least $1.50.

Otherwise, books are sorted and priced for the book sales.

Dickerson said Johnson County processes more than 600,000 donated items each year. That includes books, albums, DVDs, CDs and even puzzles that volunteers take home to make sure every piece is included before being put out for sale.

Not everything makes it to the sale.

“If there is significant damage or it’s water stained, we put it in a bucket for recycling,” said Karin Dembinski, sorting and sales specialist for Friends of Johnson County Library.

“We try not to throw away too much. Sometimes we get books that have been in a basement or garage and might be really gross. Those are thrown away because of the possibility of mold or mildew.”

Dickerson is not surprised by the success of the book sales because of the diversity of donations and the popularity of branch libraries.

“I have worked here 15 years and I’ve seen how well read and how curious Johnson Countians are,” Dickerson said. “I will always find things that I never read.”

And not all donations are worn and weary.

“We have books that the spine still cracks,” said Julie Clark, financial administrator for the Olathe Public Library.

On occasion shoppers discover real finds. Once, Dembinski said a publication about Disneyland that was signed by Walt Disney was donated to Johnson County. It sold for $1,800.

But other books can be just as valuable.

“There are so many sweet stories of people in the bookstore,” Clark said.

She said once a shopper found a book that mentioned her father, who was from a small town in Kansas.

“She could only find the book on eBay or Amazon for hundreds of dollars,” Clark said. “She got it for a $1 and burst into tears.”

For more information about the Friends of Johnson County Library, here to friendsofjcl.org. For more information about Olathe’s Friends of the Library, go here to www.olathelibrary.org.