Photo by Jeff Janowski
Elaine Michitsch, a volunteer for Friends of the Leland Library, arranges the shelves of the more than 30,000 publications at the Magnolia House which stores the overflow books from the Leland Library. Situated next to Leland Library the Magnolia House opens it's doors on the 2nd Saturday of every month to the public for a book sale.
By JJ Knight
StarNews Correspondent
Published: Saturday, June 4, 2011 at 3:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, June 3, 2011 at 7:28 p.m.
The Leland Library has a wonderful friendship with its neighbor, the Magnolia House.
Operated by the Friends of the Leland Library, the Magnolia House helps support the library through its book sales held on the second Saturday of each month. The funds raised support the children's summer reading program and go to make purchases not paid for by Brunswick County.
This year marks the Magnolia House's one-year anniversary. The Friends will celebrate with a sale from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, June 11, in the house at 485 Village Rd.
Before the Friends of the Leland Library had a permanent location at the Magnolia House, they had twice-yearly sales lasting three to four days at the community center. The volunteers would schlep books from a storage unit to the community center and then donate unsold books to nursing homes, schools or to Camp Lejeune.
"My dream was to have something permanent," said Ellie Edwards, Magnolia House manager.
Six rooms and a hallway house over 35,000 books, cassettes, VHS tapes, books-on-tape and CDs.
The flagship room is the children's room, decorated in an under-the-sea theme. A fishing pole and lure add an authentic touch to the cartoon-like sea creature images covering the dark blue walls.
"All the fish are very gentle," Edwards said with a laugh, referencing the smiling shark and the female octopus whose long eyelashes adorn bright eyes.
They have a special collections room outfitted with the classics, local authors and a theme table that offers books of a similar subject. The current theme is aviation.
All of the books on sale have been donated to the Friends. With a storage room full of unsorted bins, boxes and tubs, they are never in short supply of wares.
Every week, clad in their blue aprons, volunteers and members of the organization meet at the house to sort books. With everything from biographies to Westerns, Edwards said, they have something for everyone.
When open for sales, the Magnolia House gets all types of visitors. There are the repeat customers who come to check out what is new in cookbooks or popular fiction, and there are the new faces who are just discovering the house.
Young moms, children and older patrons all come to the house because they share a love of books and reading. The Friends and volunteers share that passion as well.
"We all do this because we just really love books," Edwards said.
