Fair-goers will have the opportunity to bring back more than just prizes and awards from the Chester Fair this year. Chester Public Library will once again host a book sale as part of the three-day event from Friday, Aug. 26 to Sunday, Aug. 28.

The book sale will be housed in Building Two, directly across from the ticket office,. And according to Roseann Ventigmilia, the head of book sales at the Library, this year’s sale will feature a substantial number of paperback and hardcovers, not including textbooks or encyclopedias. Due to the sheer volume of donations the Library received for its sale, books will simply be sorted by their binding style and age range.

Books for the sale had been stored in the library’s basement. Ventimiglia says members of Chester’s Boy Scout Troop 13 have helped transport the books to the United Church of Chester where additional donations are still being collected. The Library is still seeking volunteers to help transport books from the Church to the Fair.

According to Ventimiglia, the books at the sale will not have fixed prices. Instead they are being sold through a voluntary system of donations.

“We have a bunch of big plastic jars and people can donate money for whatever books they decide to buy,” said Ventimiglia. “We’ve actually found that is a more economical way to do it. People tend to be very generous when they’re just making a donation, and because of COVID last year, I didn’t want to be handling money.”

Any books left over at the end of the sale will be brought to the Book Barn, a used bookstore in Niantic. Those not purchased by the Book Barn will be donated to Goodwill. Money raised from the fair and purchases by the used bookstore will be directed toward the Friends of the Library fund programs, according to Ventimiglia. These programs cover Library assets that may not normally be included in the town budget, such as additional computers, discount museum passes, and other library services.