LE MARS, Iowa (KCAU) — The Friends of the Le Mars Public Library will be opening their bookstore for a big clear the shelves book sale.

The bookstore, located on 520 4th St. SW, just south of Kwik Star, will be having a “Clear the Shelves” featuring “Pay What You Want” booksale. All the proceeds of the sale will go to the library.

Mary Albrecht, Treasurer of the Friends of the Library is the organizer of the sale, “We’ve had generous donations of books and our shelves are full, so we need to make room for new inventory. This is our last book sale of the year, so we decided to clear the shelves by offering ‘Pay What you Want’ pricing. Shoppers can select a bundle of books, make a donation and support a great cause!”

Cash, checks, or cards will be accepted for payment. The dates and hours of the sales are, Thursday Oct. 19 from 3 p.m. -7 p.m., Friday Oct. 20 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., and Saturday Oct. 21 from 9 a.m. -12 p.m.

This will be the Friends fourth and last used book sale for the year to generate funds to support their ongoing literacy efforts at the Le Mars Public Library. Help the Friends clear the shelves, raise money, and build a home library.

One popular literacy effort is handing out new books to children ages 0-5 during the downtown Trick or Treat – Books for Treats events. On Oct. 28 the Public Library wil be hoting Books for treats from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

According to Shirley Taylor, Library Director, “Each year 550- 650 new books are given to children during this event. This event is only possible because the Friends of the Library have the funds to purchase the books that are distributed.”

Taylor goes on to say, “Research has shown that having books in a home increases a child’s academic success, vocabulary development which in turn, impacts earnings later in life. In addition to visiting the library and attending story times, each child should strive to have a home library of at least 20 books.” The Friends “Clear the Shelves” book sale is an affordable way to build a home library since the bookstore is filled with books for children and teens.