If you are local to Southport, Connecticut, you probably already know about the best book sale in New England. You may even be one of the reasons why the Pequot Library continues to open its doors and offer cultural and community programs. If you’re not familiar with the annual Summer Book Sale, though, you have a treat awaiting you.

First of all, come for the weekend. It’s easy to get to Southport from Interstate 95 if you want to drive up from New York (or points south) or down from Boston (or points north). Or you can take the New Haven line on the Metro North (commuter) railroad right to the Southport stop. Amtrak is a little trickier: the Stamford or Bridgeport stops get you relatively close but you’ll have to take the Metro North from there (or use a car service).

But in any case, this year’s Summer Book Sale (the 63rd) is from Friday, July 26th through Tuesday, July 30th. Getting there early gives you the fullest selection, of course, but the highest prices for the books (and CDs, DVDs, etc.). You’ll have your pick of over 120,000 items. Saturday the prices come down and there will be a multitude of book lovers from all over the region, and a festive atmosphere, no matter the weather. The library itself is also just lovely. It opened its doors in 1894 with the motto “Free as Air to All,” which is about as warm a welcome as I can imagine.

(If you make a longer, or a later, trip of it, the prices continue to go down as the sale continues…on Tuesday you can take your choice of whatever’s left for the bargain basement price of $5 per bag.)

Whenever you arrive, though, I advise you to stay at the Delamar, which is a charming hotel, right within walking distance. They have quite a good restaurant there, Artisan, with local and seasonal cuisine, and a lively bar scene in the evening. If you’d rather have Italian, check out Paci at the train station: you won’t go wrong there, either. For casual fare, you can try Sammy’s Southport Pizza & Grill. Southport’s small, but lovely, and you can wander over to the harbor to see the sailboats, or down to the beach to watch the sun go down, or over to the local shops (the Fairfield Women’s Exchange is a particular favorite of mine).

But it’s mostly about the books. Come with large bags and take away whatever you can carry. (And, if you can, make a donation to the canned food drive at Trinity Church, which is kind enough to provide extra parking to all the book buyers.) You’ll be glad you did.

The most amazing story I’ve heard about the book sale is the time an elderly volunteer sorting books found her own copy of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare that had been a high school graduation gift from her father, sixty years after she’d accidentally dropped it while boarding a New York City bus back in 1944.

More recently, Adair Heitmann, the Pequot’s former Director of Communications, told me that when she was working the sale some few years ago, a little boy, about five years old, took a picture book out of a pile and asked his mother to buy it. “Sure,” she said, and “oh, I loved that book when I was a kid.” And when she went to pay for it, she realized that he’d selected her very own copy of it…complete with her name in her five year old handwriting.

You just never know. Recycle books and amazing things can happen.

Address: 720 Pequot Ave, Southport, CT 

Telephone: (203) 259-0346

Email: information@pequotlibrary.org

Website: https://www.pequotlibrary.org/

Images: Pequot Library