Spring
of 2023
The 59th Five Colleges
Book Sale will take place from April 8 through April 16
at the retail location next to the CVS in the Kohl’s
Plaza off Route 12A in West Lebanon N.H. (250 N. Plainfield
Road). New books will be added every day of the sale.
Hours:
Saturday and Sunday, April 8 –
9, 9 am to 5 pm
Monday to Friday, April 10 –
14, Noon to 7 pm
Saturday, April 15, 9 am to 5 pm
Sunday, April 16, 9 am to 3 pm
(half price day)
We have recently learned that the capacity
of the former Sears store is 127 people at one time due
to fire safety codes. Consequently, on the first day of
the sale, we will be using a hand stamp entry method and
a one hour shopping time to remain in compliance. We appreciate
your understanding.
Patrons cannot use boxes to reserve spots
on line, or line up outside before 8:30 a.m., as our new
location is next to other businesses and we do not want
to inconvenience their customers.
Masks are welcome, and there are no public
bathrooms available. We accept cash, checks, and credit
cards as payment.
Please come visit us more than once so you
can browse the new books put out each day. Our volunteers
have been hard at work preparing thousands of books for
the sale to raise funds for scholarships for NH & VT
students to attend Vassar, Wellesley, Mt. Holyoke, Simmons,
and Smith. The sale is still being run by Upper Valley residents
and supported by hundreds of Upper Valley volunteers.
Coming out of the pandemic, many of our volunteers
— quite a few of whom are older and at greater risk
of contracting complications from Covid-19 — expressed
concerns about holding a large-scale event that draws thousands
of people. They said they would feel safer in a smaller
space that had a smaller capacity limit. Rather than cancel
the sale for the fourth year in a row, we decided to go
this route.
Since the space is smaller than the high school,
we decided to extend the sale for nine days — including
a second weekend — which will give patrons a longer
time to visit us. We also plan on putting new books out
each day. We are not planning on instituting time limits
for shoppers during the week or the second weekend, unless
capacity becomes a concern.
We again apologize for the delay in getting
this information out earlier: we did not know until a few
days ago what the fire codes would set our capacity limit
so low. We are doing our best to respond to the circumstances
we’ve been presented with and we ask for patience
as we navigate this new landscape.
We look forward to seeing you at the sale!