GRANTHAM, Pa. (March 8, 2007) — The Messiah College Friends of the Library will hold its 12th annual used book sale beginning March 31 and continuing through April 4 in Murray Library on the college’s Grantham campus. The sale will open at 10 a.m. and continue to operate during normal library hours (Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. to midnight; Monday to Wednesday, 7:30 a.m. to midnight).

Approximately 20,000 books will be offered at the sale. Prices are $2 for hardcovers and $0.50 - $1 for paperbacks. Old, rare and special books are priced as marked. Also videos, classical and pop LP records, music scores, compact discs, audiocassettes, maps and home schooling materials will be for sale. On April 3, all books will be half price, and on April 4, the price will be $5 per bag.

Proceeds will be used to support Murray Library’s special collections, including the Artists’ Books Collection, the Ruth E. Engle Memorial Collection of Children’s Book Illustration, the Canadian Literature Collection and the W. Jim Neidhardt Collection of books on religion and science. Revenue from the sale is also used to fund annual Library Research Grants for Messiah College students and to bring to campus various speakers and programs open to the public without charge. Last year, half of the sale proceeds were contributed to William Carey College in Gulfport, Miss., to replace books lost in Hurricane Katrina.

Remnants from the sale are donated to Better World Books, a non-profit organization that donates, re-sells or recycles the books, and then donates a percentage of its net sales to its non-profit literary partners: Books for Africa, Room to Read, and the National Center for Family Literacy.

Donations of books and other materials are accepted throughout the year. For more information, contact Cherie Fieser at (717) 691-6006, extension 7181.