After 38 years, NC State Friends of the Libraries announced they will no longer hold the Frank B. Armstrong Memorial Book Sale. 

Allison Hughes, program coordinator for Friends of the Libraries, said though the sale has been an annual event for decades, the COVID-19 shutdown allowed the non-profit to discuss more effective ways of supporting University Libraries.

“[The book sale] takes quite a bit of staff time and quite a bit of storage,” Hughes said. “For those reasons, we decided this would be the last sale that we do and focus our priorities in other areas … still associated with the library.”

Since 1984, Friends of the Libraries has collected donated books throughout the year for the NC State community to buy at their yearly sale for a discounted price. After the sale, The Friends donate all unsold books to the local second-hand bookstore, Readers Corner. 

Joe White, director of finance and business for University Libraries, said all profits from the Friends’ book sale go into the Library Excellence Endowment fund, a sort of catch-all fund financially supporting the Libraries any way they need. White noted that despite the event’s longevity, annual sales did not heavily contribute to library funding and library operations will not be disrupted by the event’s absence. 

“The book sale is an important community event that engaged people and brought them to the University … but it wasn’t a major fundraising initiative of the libraries,” White said. “I view it more as a community engagement event rather than a revenue generating event.”

Hughes said ending the sale has allowed the Friends to shift their focus to programs promoting student success and affordability.

“One of the things that stuck out to me was how a number of students were able to find textbooks for a much lower cost,” Hughes said. “I think textbook affordability is an area the Libraries can focus on to promote student success and affordability.”

Eva Lloyd, student library assistant for Friends of the Libraries and a fourth-year studying industrial design, said she agrees and points to a need for more digitized materials.

“We have very few online resources,” Lloyd said. ”I think a route to increased equity is higher accessibility, which is going to be found through online resources. Just having more copies of essential resources is a big deal, like textbooks that students can rent instead of having to purchase.”

Frank B. Armstrong, the event’s namesake, co-founded the biochemistry department at NC State and taught for 38 years, retiring in 2000. Armstrong and his wife, Beverly, were strong supporters of the annual book sale, and after his death in 2009, Friends of the Libraries named the sale in his memory. 

Jeremy Allen, executive director of development for Friends of the Libraries Executive, expressed that despite the sale’s end, Friends will continue supporting University Libraries.

“We will continue to present other forms of community engagement in line with our strategic priorities: enhancing student success and promoting affordability, providing a platform for core and digital research infrastructure, being a library for all communities and raising the profile of the University,” Allen said.