Those who couldn't stand the heat on Fountain Square on Tuesday went home to their kitchens.

        Cookbooks were the hottest-selling item at the 30th annual Friends of the Library used book sale.

Michelle Stoup of Delhi rummages through a box of children's books at the library book sale Tuesday on Fountain Square. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

        An estimated 1,500 people shopped in 82-degree heat.

        In addition to cookbooks they snapped up math books, science fiction paperbacks, books on religion and 33 rpm record albums.

        They skipped over books on education.

        Friends use the proceeds to underwrite programs for the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.

        One thousand boxes of books, video and audio cassettes, CDs and records were hauled down to the square for the week-long sale.

        Donated by individuals and book stores or discarded by the library, the merchandise is arranged by category on trestle tables under tents. The stock is replenished daily as it sells down.

        Among Tuesday's shoppers were dealers buying stock for their own stores, grandmothers buying books for grandkids and parents who home-school their children.

        “It is so unhomogenous,” said Mary Lu Aft, president of Friends. “It is the whole gamut of everybody who lives in Cincinnati.”

        Shoppers also came from states as far away as Florida and Oklahoma, said Anne Keller, executive director. They find out about the sale through the organization's mailings.

        “We really have something here for everybody,” said Ms. Keller. “These are all bargains.”

        Hardback books are individually priced while all paperbacks are 50 cents, records are $1 and cassette tapes are 50 cents.

        Perhaps the best day to shop is Friday, when customers can purchase a shopping bag for $5 and “take away anything you and the bag can carry,” Ms. Keller said.

        The sale continues 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. today and Thursday, 9:30-3 p.m. Friday.
       

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