By Elizabeth Baumeister

ebaumeister@timesleader.com

The Back Mountain Memorial Library’s Slightly Read Bookshop is 100 percent volunteer run. More than 30 volunteers donate their time to the cause on a regular basis. From left, Kelli Benner, Lee Lawrence, Beverly Cushner, Maryanne Jelso and Diane Coslett.
https://www.mydallaspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_TDP-Book-Shop-1.jpg.optimal.jpgThe Back Mountain Memorial Library’s Slightly Read Bookshop is 100 percent volunteer run. More than 30 volunteers donate their time to the cause on a regular basis. From left, Kelli Benner, Lee Lawrence, Beverly Cushner, Maryanne Jelso and Diane Coslett.

The Slightly Read Bookshop at the Back Mountain Memorial Library offers a vast selection of used books — fiction and nonfiction, children and adult, softcover and hardcover, large print and more.
https://www.mydallaspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_TDP-Book-Shop-2.jpg.optimal.jpgThe Slightly Read Bookshop at the Back Mountain Memorial Library offers a vast selection of used books — fiction and nonfiction, children and adult, softcover and hardcover, large print and more.

A cart of children’s books sits on the floor in reach of little hands at the Slightly Read Bookshop in the basement of the Back Mountain Memorial Library.
https://www.mydallaspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_TDP-Book-Shop-3.jpg.optimal.jpgA cart of children’s books sits on the floor in reach of little hands at the Slightly Read Bookshop in the basement of the Back Mountain Memorial Library.

DALLAS — Fiction, nonfiction. Soft cover, hard cover. Children’s books, adults’ books. Large print. From mysteries, to classics, to cookbooks, the Slightly Read Bookshop at the Back Mountain Memorial Library has it all. And it’s all managed by a crew of more than 30 volunteers, so 100 percent of the proceeds benefit the library.

The used books range in price from three for $1 to $5 each, with everything in the paperback room going for $3 per grocery bag full.

But the low prices add up.

According to Lee Lawrence, manager, the shop brings in on average $10,000 per year, more than double the amount of this year’s auction proceeds of about $4,000.

Even in a digital age of computers and e-readers, people still value hard copies of the literature they love.

“More and more people come in, and they all have Nooks and Kindles, but they say they still like to hold a book,” Lawrence said.

And that is what keeps the fundraiser going.

But despite the shop’s success, the volunteers believe it could still do better.

When the farmers market moved its location from the Back Mountain Memorial Library to the Dallas Elementary School parking lot, the library book shop lost a lot of its Saturday traffic previously gained from the market. The volunteer staff would like the community to know the store is still open and has the same great deals as always.

On the other hand, Lawrence said the shop is frequented by many regular customers who come in on a weekly basis. And those who wander in for the first time, or the first time in a while, usually have something good to say about the experience.

“For the most part, people are very encouraged that this is here,” Lawrence said.

Another Slightly Read Bookshop volunteer, Diane Coslett, agreed, giving the example of a 14-year-old boy who recently visited in search of a science fiction book to replace one he previously purchased elsewhere that got destroyed.

Coslett overheard him tell his mother as they were leaving after finding the title he sought, “Mom, this is better than Barnes and Noble!”

This type of compliment, she said, is not uncommon.

The shop’s hours are 1 to 7 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesdays; 1 to 5 p.m. Fridays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. During July and August, the shop is open Wednesdays and Saturdays only at those same times.

Those wishing to donate books to the cause may do so by dropping them off inside the store during regular business hours, or leaving them with a staff member inside the library. When the library is not open, they may be left on the landing out front. All donations must be in sturdy bags or boxes. The book shop accepts books, including large print; music CDs and DVDs. It does not accept encyclopedias, Readers Digest Condensed versions of books, textbooks from any year, Bibles and religious texts, magazines older than six months, or books that are wet or damp, with warped pages, damaged, moldy or mildewed or with yellowed mold spores.

Reach Elizabeth Baumeister at 570-704-3943 or on Twitter @AbingtonJournal