Booth Library’s book sale was by the clock tower outside the library from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday.

The sale included a plethora of books with a diverse selection of genres, including books on subjects such as political science, fiction, music history and philosophy.

Janice Derr, the head of Acquisition Services at Booth Library, was responsible for coordinating the event. She said she was glad to see the number of people who stopped by.

“I am excited about the turnout, it’s even bigger than I thought it was going to be,” Derr said. “We were worried about the weather, but it turned out really nice.”

Derr also said she was glad to see the volunteers who helped set up the event.

“We’re happy to see everybody. We’re happy to see people in person,” Derr said. “We had a lot of great volunteers today. The women’s soccer team came and totally kicked butt. They were awesome this morning. All of our volunteers were great. We got stuff out here in record time. It was really neat to work with them. They are a great group of women.”

Gallery • 3 Photos

Jessica Nantes

Xsaviar Hunter, a junior chemistry major, looks at different books during the book sale Wednesday afternoon.

Dozens of students attended the book sale, with multiple students who said they were happy they got to attend the event.

Azaria Bell, a freshman majoring in communication sciences and disorders, said she was excited to attend the book sale because she loves to read.

“I am very excited. I really love to read, and I’ve grown up reading books,” Bell said. “During high school, I kind of fell off so I’m really to get back on that now that I’m in college.”

Bell said some of her favorite genres include nonfiction and realistic fiction, with her having a particular love for period pieces.

“I love realistic nonfiction or even period pieces,” Bell said. “Anything in the past, I find those really intriguing. Realistic fiction, I really enjoy that, because it makes me relate to it a lot more, but it’s all fake. As far as period pieces, just to look back on the past and learn what I can do differently today than what happened in the past. I really like to read books like that to give a new perspective of how I’m living right now.”

Brittany McMann, a sophomore accounting major, works at the security desk in Booth Library and was an assistant at the book sale. She said she felt happy with the number of people that showed up.

“This is my first year experiencing the book sale so I really the turnout we’ve had is really great,” McMann said. “I think the weather really helped with that and I think it’s a great event where students can get hands-on access to materials.”

She also said she enjoyed reading and purchasing books from the sale.

“I love reading books. It’s one of my favorite hobbies to do,” McMann said. “I’m really excited to get my hands on stuff. I am planning on getting some of my own books. I’m a really big reader and I really like how this event brings a bunch of genres for other students.”

Shane Smith, a sophomore history major, said he found out about the event and the diverse genres to choose from.

“I saw it on EIU’s Instagram that Booth Library was doing a sale,” said Smith, “Being a history major, I like checking out these books. It’ll definitely help out with my field.”

He was looking forward to the history and political science selections.

“I like both fields. There’s two tables for political science and three for history, so it’s awesome.”

Ethan Schobernd can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].