By Mike Bush
Editor
575magazine.com
ROSWELL — There’s a new bookstore coming to Roswell, but you won’t find any new books there.
The bookstore is Books Again and is at 404 W. Second St., and it will sell used books, cassette tapes, CDs and videotapes. It is being established by the Friends of the Roswell Public Library to raise funds to benefit the library.
Books Again will open its doors Nov. 17 and will be open Tuesdays through Saturdays 10 a.m-4 p.m. Although it won’t normally be open Sundays, Books Again will hold its grand opening from 2-4 p.m. Nov. 22, complete with a ribbon cutting and a presentation by Roswell Mayor Sam LaGrone.
An invitation-only preview of the bookstore will be held Nov. 16 for members of the Roswell Altrusa Club, parent organization of the Friends of the Roswell Public Library.
All of the books and audio-visual materials on sale are used, donated by members of the public and discards from the library, according to Melinda Gonzalez, a Friends board member who helped to set up the bookstore.
The bookstore is the brainchild of Marna Hunt, whom Gonzalez called a “super member” of the Friends. She said Hunt was visiting Pueblo, Colo., and ran across a bookstore run by the local Friends of the Public Library.
“She was so impressed with the bookstore, and she said, ‘We can do the same thing in Roswell, New Mexico,’” Gonzalez said.
Hunt brought the idea to the Friends board in June, and was appointed chairwoman of a committee to look into the feasibility of setting up a bookstore. The Friends decided in August to establish a bookstore.
Friends President De Cooper said the building was obtained Oct. 6 and Friends board members began work on setting up the bookstore.
Books Again will have every kind of book, fiction and nonfiction, paperback and hardback, including oversize books and books in Spanish. The store also will have books on tape — cassettes and CDs — and videotapes and DVDs.
There will be a children’s area and a sports corner, where local schools will be able to put up their teams’ logos. A large room at the back of the store will be a processing area, where books will come in and be cleaned and priced before being put on the shelves.
Prices on the books will be about one-fourth of the cover price, Cooper said. Friends members will get an additional 10 percent discount.
The bookstore is a fundraiser for the library and is designed to replace the book sale the Friends and Altrusa Club have held annually the second week of October since 1981 to benefit the library.
Books Again will be staffed with volunteers, two people per shift and two shifts a day. The bookstore almost has enough volunteers to staff the store, but Gonzalez said, “We can always use more.”
Gonzalez said she is impressed with the community support the bookstore has received.
“Someone donated a whole, brand new computer system on condition that we would ‘go green,’” she added. The “green” computer only uses as much power as a 6-watt light bulb.
The bookstore also has received donations of bookshelves, cash, a vacuum cleaner, a refrigerator and an adding machine.
Cooper emphasized that 100 percent of profits after expenses will go to the library, to support library programs including Books on Wheels, for people who are unable to go to the library to check out books; Bette’s and Bill’s Books, in which donated Reader’s Digest Condensed Books are distributed by volunteers to local hotels and motels for guests to enjoy during their stay; and The Book Menders, volunteers who meet twice monthly to repair and mend library books.
“We really want to encourage people to come in and shop and buy and support the library,” Cooper added. “I hope people realize that by supporting us they’re supporting the Roswell Public Library, which I one of the best institutions in the city, in the state.”
Gonzalez said the bookstore also will sell gift certificates and book bags.
Plans are to distribute bookmarks advertising the bookstore to local hotels and to other libraries in the area.
Gonzalez also noted that parking for the bookstore is behind the store, off the alley between Books Again and Tinnie Mercantile.
Books Again is seeking volunteers and donations. For more information or to donate or volunteer, call the bookstore at (575) 627-6179 or e-mail booksagain.roswell@yahoo.com