STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

Stock up on books and baked goods at the Friends of the Hailey Public Library’s Used Book and Bake Sale this coming weekend.

The fundraiser for the Hailey Public Library will be held at Hailey Town Center West from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Oct. 23 and 24. It will conclude with a Bag Sale from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25, where book lovers can fill up provided reusable grocery bags with books for just $10.

Thousands of books have been donated by the community—among them, some real treasures, according to co-organizer Geegee Lowe. And dozens of Wood River Valley residents are baking scads of yummy cookies, cakes, bars, breads and pies for the event. There’ll even be some homemade jams for sale.

Sara Baldwin gazed around Monday afternoon at thousands of books volunteers have categorized.

“This room was empty three days ago,” she said.

The event offers locals a way to stock up on quality, inexpensive reads. It promotes literacy. And it supports efforts to recycle, reuse and repurpose books, said Lowe.

This year’s books include tomes on “Prescription for Nutritional Health” and “Clinical Procedures in Emergency Medicine” and such nonfiction books as “A Question of Character: A Life of John F. Kennedy” and National Geographic’s “America the Beautiful” coffee table book.

And, yes, there are plenty of books considered lighter reading, including James Patterson and Danielle Steel novels and a guide to “The Lord of the Rings.”