Vista Grande Public Library's Fall Book Sale opens one week from today, on Thursday, November 12, and runs through Saturday, November 14, at 14 Avenida Torreon. It's three days of books, audiobooks, DVDs, CDs and locally made art. Most items cost $1 to $5, and every purchase supports a library Eldorado built for itself. The library calls it the Bi-Annual Book Sale in ECIA's October Vistas newsletter, so it comes around twice a year, and community donations are part of what keeps it going.
The dates make that loop easy to see. The library stopped taking book and DVD donations on October 15 so staff could set up the sale. Donations open again on November 17, the Tuesday after the sale ends. So the sale sits between a closed donation door and a reopened one. Planned well, the week runs from the early-bird line on Thursday morning to the drop-off counter the following Tuesday.
A Library Eldorado Stocked Itself
Vista Grande is an independent nonprofit 501(c)(3), established in 1999 and opened in April 2001. According to the library's own history, its first building was filled with donated books and staffed by scores of volunteers. That history still shows in how the sale works. The library's donation notice says gently used books, CDs and DVDs that come through the door either join the collection or are sold to raise money. The sale announcement describes the event as a fundraiser for the library's operations.
So a sale table in November can hold a novel donated from a neighbor's shelf, priced at a few dollars, with the money going back into the building where both of you pick up holds. The sale schedule runs from a paid early-bird hour on Thursday to a $10 bag on Saturday.
Four Ways to Pay Across Three Days
The schedule below comes from the library's listing on the Santa Fe tourism calendar and its own announcement.
| Day | Hours | Entry | What's different |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday, Nov. 12 | 8:15 to 10 a.m. | $50 at the door | Early Bird Sale, full selection, quieter room |
| Thursday, Nov. 12 | 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. | Free | Standard pricing, most items $1 to $5 |
| Friday, Nov. 13 | 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. | Free | Paperback buy-one-get-one 1 to 6 p.m.; scavenger hunt 2 to 5 p.m. |
| Saturday, Nov. 14 | 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Free | $10-a-bag sale; items priced $5 and up excluded |
The $50 early-bird fee is a donation that buys first access. The library says the hour and forty-five minutes before the doors open free offers "great selection and quieter shopping," and the entry fee goes toward library operations. The early slot suits anyone hunting for a specific author, a run of out-of-print regional titles, or the special gift items and collections the library mentions.
Friday afternoon gets cheaper on paperbacks in particular. The buy-one-get-one offer runs from 1 to 6 p.m., and the scavenger hunt from 2 to 5 p.m. awards free books. Saturday is for clearing tables. Everything that fits in the shopping bag costs $10, except items priced at $5 or more, which keep their tags. The Santa Fe Cat Cafe sponsors the bags.
The pricing gets lower and lower through the week. Thursday morning puts a price on choice. Saturday afternoon puts a price on volume. A household that wants one specific thing and a household that wants forty paperbacks for the winter are shopping different days of the same sale.
Payment is cash, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, or a local check with identification.
Friday Runs From Avenida Torreon to Lamy
Friday, November 13, is also the second Friday of the month. That's the day the library's trivia fundraiser moves to Nuckolls Brewing's Lamy Railyard taproom at 152 Old Lamy Trail. The event listing puts the game at 4 to 6 p.m. Admission is $10 per person at the door, and the proceeds go to the library. ECIA's October Vistas calls the trivia series a successful fundraiser for the community and the library. It invites players to "pitch your wits against the VGPL board," alone or with a team.
That makes Friday the one afternoon when two library fundraisers line up. The scavenger hunt at the sale wraps up at 5 p.m., and the paperback deal runs until 6. Trivia in Lamy starts at 4. A Friday plan could cover the BOGO tables early in the afternoon and still get to Old Lamy Trail in time for the first questions. Nuckolls Brewing lists Friday taproom hours of 2 to 8 p.m., so the room stays open after the last round. Saturday hours there are also 2 to 8 p.m., and Sunday hours are 1 to 7 p.m.
Saturday Morning Shares the Calendar With New Neighbors
The bag sale isn't the only thing on Eldorado's calendar Saturday morning. ECIA's November calendar lists a New Resident Welcome Event on November 14 from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. The bag sale opens at 10 a.m. and runs until 4 p.m., so there's room for both. For anyone who has just arrived, the morning covers the community association's welcome and the library's biggest fundraiser before lunch. For longtime residents with a new neighbor nearby, the timing is an easy reason to make an introduction.
The library's regular hours are Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It's closed Sunday and Monday. The sale keeps those same daily hours, apart from the Thursday early-bird slot.
November 17: The Door Opens Again
Once the sale ends Saturday afternoon, the library is closed Sunday and Monday. Donations resume on Tuesday, November 17. That's the other half of the loop. Donated items start arriving again, and each one either joins the collection or is sold to raise money.
If the sale week has you looking at your own shelves, the library's donation guidelines are specific.
- Like-new or very gently used books, CDs and DVDs are accepted.
- Fewer than three bags or boxes can be dropped off during open hours without an appointment.
- Larger loads need an appointment, arranged by phone at 505-466-7323 or by email to the library director.
- No more than five bags or boxes per week.
- Containers should be non-returnable and weigh no more than 40 pounds, since staff have to lift them.
The library also lists items it can't take. These include damaged or moldy materials, many reference and outdated instructional books, old magazines, audio cassettes, VHS tapes, LP records, and incomplete or copied CD and DVD sets. Sorting against that list before loading the car saves staff from turning boxes away at the counter.
The five-container weekly limit shapes the timing more than anything else. A large clear-out, say a downsizing or a whole room of shelves, takes several weeks of drop-offs. The library's donation window has been closed since mid-October, so the weeks after November 17 are open again for anyone with a backlog.
One More Date on the Library Calendar
The week after the sale, Vista Grande hosts a reading on Saturday, November 21, from 1 to 3 p.m. Jeanne Simonoff will read from Woman of Valor, which the October Vistas describes as a memoir of family, memory and caregiving. The afternoon includes an audience discussion. The event is also on the library's event calendar. It's the Saturday after donations reopen, so a bag of books for the counter and a seat at the reading fit into the same visit.
Laid end to end, the library's month runs like this:
- Thursday, Nov. 12: Early Bird Sale 8:15 to 10 a.m., $50; free entry 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Friday, Nov. 13: Free entry 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; paperback BOGO from 1 p.m.; scavenger hunt 2 to 5 p.m.; trivia at Nuckolls Brewing Lamy Railyard 4 to 6 p.m., $10.
- Saturday, Nov. 14: ECIA New Resident Welcome Event 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.; $10-a-bag sale 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Tuesday, Nov. 17: Book and DVD donations resume.
- Saturday, Nov. 21: Jeanne Simonoff reading and discussion, 1 to 3 p.m.
Sale updates will be posted at vglibrary.org.
Every home in Eldorado has a few shelves that say something about the people who live there, and the story of a house is often in the books it holds. If you're planning a move and wondering what stays and what goes, the Ricky Allen-Tara Earley Group would be glad to help you tell your home's story, from what's on the shelves to what's in the listing. Tell your home's story. Work with the RCT Team.
