Massive Music And Book Sale Returns

The annual Music & Book sale features thousands of records, CDs and books ROGER BONG PHOTO

The annual Music & Book sale features thousands of records, CDs and books ROGER BONG PHOTO

My favorite time of the year is any time there’s a massive music sale — like the one Friends of the Library of Hawaii (FLH) is hosting this weekend. Every January, FLH brings out thousands of vinyl records, CDs, books and DVDs from its collection for the annual Music & Book Sale.

This year, the three-day sale is held at Washington Middle School Jan. 16-18. It runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday. If you’re looking to snag as many albums by the late, great David Bowie as possible — my guess is that a lot of people will be looking for his LPs this year now that he’s passed — you’ll want to be in line early. Some of the most dedicated music enthusiasts arrive with coffee in hand an hour before the entry time.

On Saturday, Hawaii Public Radio DJs will be on stage from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. On Sunday, it’ll be KTUH DJs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Parking will be available for free in the Washington Middle School parking lot off of South King Street and extending onto the school fields.

In a time when digital media dominates our lives — Amazon sold an estimated 20 million Kindle devices in 2013, according to Forbes, and Spotify reported a subscriber base of 20 million users in June 2015 — I still get blown away by FLH’s collection of 20,000 records (holy cow!), 10,000 CDs and 15,000 books. I wonder if the claim is really true — that’s a lot of stuff to haul around! — but I’ve never taken the time to count. I suppose it’s worth noting that in 2012, FLH advertised the annual event as having “over 30,000 records,” so attendees have slowly been chipping away at this huge chunk, and 10,000 records have found new homes over the last three years.

This sale is one of Oahu’s few events where people across the island can enjoy a weekend of browsing thousands of music media and books — and you’ll be happy to know that their items are always priced reasonably. You can finish the day with a handful of albums and books without breaking the bank (the exception being the “Collector’s Corner,” where some of the more coveted rarities are priced accordingly).

Friends of the Library of Hawaii was founded in 1879 and exists to promote and support public libraries throughout the state. FLH’s mission is to maintain free public libraries, help expand library services and facilities, as well as encourage gifts and donations “that can enrich the cultural opportunities available to the people of Hawaii.” (FLH also is always looking for new volunteers to help out.)

For full event details, visit friendsofthelibraryofhawaii.org.

ROGER BONG RECENTLY TURNED HIS BLOG INTO A RECORD LABEL: ALOHAGOTSOUL.COM