Smith College Book Sale

For a number of years, I went to the Smith College Book Sale at the National Guard Armory in Towson, Maryland. Back to my visits in a minute.

I don’t remember back then exploring Smith College or why they had a book sale. I did check it out as I started to write this. Smith College is a liberal arts college for women in Northampton, Massachusetts. I went to a wedding in Northampton once. I remember it as a nice town. I just missed an unexpected opportunity to see Bela Fleck in concert while I was there. 

The book sale began in 1958 and supported Baltimore area women going to Smith College. Sometime after I stopped going, the sale moved from the Towson Armory to the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium. The sale ended in 2016. Sad that it came to an end.

I used to really look forward to the sale. I have no idea how many books I bought there, but it was a lot. I still run across books that I know I got there. I might get some of the details wrong, but I don’t think I’ll be too far off. The sale started on Friday afternoon, maybe evening. I don’t remember if it was all of Friday or just part of it, but if you wanted to get in when they first opened you had to pay; $5 I think. Otherwise, I think it was free. It continued on Saturday and ended on Sunday. 

I paid to get in. It was so much fun. Not to be trite, but ‘kid in a candy store’ feels right. So many books! “Where to start? What am I going to miss? What book that I want is someone else going to buy first?” The variety was incredible; best-sellers, classics, fiction, nonfiction, new books, old books, and books you don’t run across a lot. The prices were low. You could afford to take chances. I remember getting Boccaccio’s Decameron. I still haven’t read it, but it could still happen. I remember getting books on Latin and Middle-English. I wish I had made lists back then of what I bought. It would be interesting now to revisit my choices and to speculate on why I bought some of the books. 

I think my favorite purchase was a fifteen-volume set of the writing of Washington Irving. I liked the look of the set; kind of a faded green with gold letters. I’m not sure if I ever read any of it, but it looked good on the shelf. I wouldn’t have spent a lot, so I’m guessing I paid between five and ten dollars. 

On Sunday, you could buy a traditional paper grocery store bag for $5 and fill it with books. I’m past buying like that now, but such fun back then. 

The Armory wasn’t just filled with books; it was filled with kindred spirits. Fond memories.

Do you have memories of the Smith College Book Sale? Let us know at twosides2thestory@yahoo.com