Thrill seekers

Four-year-old T.J. Bjella rummaged through a box of children’s books.

After several agonizing minutes, he narrowed his choices to a science fiction novel and a comic book about robots and dinosaurs.

“I like the scary ones,” T.J. said, pointing out a grimacing stegosaurus on the cover of the gently used comic. “My sister reads them to me because I can’t read by myself yet; she doesn’t like scary stories.”

T.J. has been to the Mill Creek Friends of the Library Spring Book Sale every year since he was born, though his memories of the annual event are somewhat limited.

His family got a late start this year, arriving at approximately 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 10, just in time to skim the remaining handful of children’s titles.

“If we’d gotten here any later, there wouldn’t have been anything left for the kids,” T.J.’s mother, Stephanie Bjella, said. “I bring the kids every year, hoping to instill in them the adventure of reading; you can go anywhere and be anyone. When they open a book I want it to be a journey for them like it is for me.”

Her daughter, Jenna Bjella, tugged at her sleeve.

Jenna found several chapter books about unicorns and horses that she wanted to share with her mom and brother.

“I love reading,” she said, hugging a stack of books in one arm as she snuck a peak inside a thick paperback. “I have lots of books at home and I read all the time.”

The library is a home away from home for the 7-year-old, who’s been an avid reader since kindergarten.

Her arms loaded down with the weight of several good finds, Jenna carefully placed the items in her mother’s bag and scurried away to look for more books.

Set up for this year’s book sale began in the early morning hours Friday, May 9. Volunteers boxed hundreds of books off site and delivered them to a parking lot across the street, where they were loaded into a single vehicle and shuttled to the library.

“We had 264 boxes of books this year,” Friends of the Library volunteer and book sale coordinator Carol Spate said. “That’s more than a carload.”

Customers were already filing into the library parking lot several minutes ahead of the sale’s scheduled start time — 10 a.m. Saturday.

By early afternoon, youngsters like T.J, and Jenna had nearly picked clean some-32 boxes of children’s book.

“It’s amazing,” Spate said. “It seems like we had more children’s titles this year than any other, and they still managed to empty those boxes in just a few hours.”

But no one’s complaining; proceeds from the book sale — a little more than $2,000 — will support library services, programs and facilities.

With recent news that library district officials are interested in building a new library at the east end of town, Friends volunteers like Spate are daydreaming what future book sales will look like — the size and duration.

“We could have (the sale) over multiple days and have a real preview sale for our volunteer,” Spate said starry-eyed. “It would really make a huge difference.”

A larger event for loyal book sale patrons like the Bjellas would be a special treat.

“Reading is the best escape,” Stephanie said. “The moment I open a book I’m lost in it. Murder mysteries are my favorite … I love playing detective and trying to solve the crimes while I’m reading.”

Stephanie encourages her children to explore literature — to read whatever piques their curiosities.

“I tell them, ‘Just read something, it doesn’t matter what,’” she said. “As long as they’re not spending all their free-time watching television … I love that my children enjoy reading. And I hope bringing them here to the book sale every year nurtures their interest in books.”