How Friends of the Library turns donated books into opportunities for an entire community
FOTL volunteer, Teri, helps a customer find a book.
It's a few minutes before noon on a Tuesday, and a small crowd is waiting for the Friends of the Library Bookstore on Spartanburg Highway to open. Some are familiar faces, regular customers who return week after week. Others are book dealers and collectors, hoping to discover something valuable among the thousands of donated books waiting inside. Some are discovering the bookstore for the very first time.
They all share a common anticipation. No one knows exactly what treasures might have appeared on the shelves since the store last opened.
For nearly 70 years, Friends of the Henderson County Public Library (FOTL) has been helping to make books, learning, and literacy more accessible throughout our community. And while its primary mission is to provide financial support for the county's public library system, the organization has become something more: a remarkable volunteer enterprise and a gathering place for people who share a love of books.
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Founded on March 6, 1957, by 34 charter members, the organization was originally known as Friends of the Hendersonville Public Library. Today, Friends of the Henderson County Public Library reflects its expanded mission of supporting library services and literacy throughout the county. The organization currently has approximately 800 to 900 members and a dedicated corps of nearly 80 volunteers. Its principal fundraising operation is the Friends of the Library Bookstore, located at 1940 Spartanburg Highway.
The building itself has an unusual history. Once the site of a junkyard, the property was developed into a supper club in the 1970s, later became a rock club, and eventually served as a church. In the early 2000s, a generous benefactor helped FOTL purchase the property, providing a permanent home for its fundraising activities. For many years, those activities centered around two enormous annual book sales. Volunteers spent months collecting, sorting, pricing, and organizing donations in preparation for the events.
Then came COVID.
Janet Lute, Heather Wiggins, and Lisa Plegge
When the pandemic forced the cancellation of two consecutive sales, the organization faced a difficult decision. Rather than continue relying on occasional large events, FOTL transformed its operation into a bookstore open three days a week. The change proved enormously successful.
Today, the bookstore generates approximately $250,000 in annual sales. “We average close to 100 transactions a day, and we're only open for four hours," says bookstore manager Heather Wiggins. Most importantly, FOTL approved more than $102,000 in financial support for the Henderson County Public Library system in 2026. FOTL contributions help fund summer reading programs, author presentations, musical performances, educational activities, and other programs for children, teens, and adults.
FOTL also supports the purchase of books and digital reading materials, including $32,500 allocated in 2026 for approximately 1,100 additional copies. FOTL has also helped fund the library's bookmobile, extending access to library services throughout the county. It's a remarkable contribution for a business that opens its doors just twelve hours a week.
“The Friends of the Library are vital partners in our mission to educate minds and enrich the lives of Henderson County residents,” said Trina Rushing, Director for the Henderson County Public Library. “Thanks to their generous support, the library is able to expand literacy opportunities across our community.”
A Bookstore Full of Surprises
Step inside the Friends Bookstore and you'll discover a surprisingly extensive and well-organized collection. Children's books and young adult titles occupy their own section near the entrance. Fiction is arranged by genre and author, while nonfiction shelves cover an extraordinary range of subjects. There are mysteries, romances, biographies, cookbooks, history, travel, art, religion, and nearly anything else a reader might imagine.
And the prices are hard to beat. Most books sell for between $1 and $5, with mass-market paperbacks priced at just a dollar. Shoppers will also find CDs, DVDs, audiobooks, jigsaw puzzles, sheet music, postcards, and other assorted treasures.
Unlike a conventional bookstore, however, FOTL has little control over its inventory. Everything arrives through donations, and what appears on the shelves depends entirely on what members of the community bring through the door. "We have a pretty much unlimited supply of new stock," explains volunteer Lisa Plegge, who oversees the bookstore's receiving operation. "But it's not stock that we select. It's totally random."
Shopper in the bookstore
Lisa is the gatekeeper through whom virtually every donation passes. When someone arrives with boxes of books, volunteers carry them into the receiving area, where Lisa begins the process of sorting and evaluating their contents. Books in poor condition are removed, while others are examined for their suitability for the bookstore. Additional volunteers then price and organize the accepted materials.
Approximately 75 to 80 percent of donations eventually make their way onto the shelves. Books in poor condition due to water, smoke, or physical deterioration are sent to recycling operations. Lisa is unapologetic about maintaining high standards. "I don't think we could sustain what we do if we didn't have the standards we have," she explains. "We put out really good books at really good prices."
Occasionally, something out of the ordinary turns up. These unique discoveries find their way into the store's vintage section or onto a table of "Special Finds," where unusual and collectible books are offered at attractive prices.
For regular shoppers, that unpredictability is part of the appeal. A book that wasn't there on Tuesday might be waiting on Thursday. And a volume that has spent decades gathering dust on someone's shelf may suddenly find an appreciative new owner.
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Some of the bookstore's most valuable discoveries never reach its shelves. Lisa recently received six boxes of beautifully preserved older books devoted entirely to English horse racing. Although fascinating, they weren't exactly suited to the bookstore's regular inventory. Many were better candidates for online sales, where specialized collectors might be willing to pay considerably more.
Volunteer Janet Lute oversees FOTL's online book sales through Amazon, an operation that has become a significant source of revenue for the organization. Working with a team of 9 - 10 volunteers, Janet manages an inventory of roughly 3,200 books available for purchase online. Team members evaluate potential listings, research prices, prepare orders, and ship books to customers. Last year, the FOTL’s online operation generated approximately $37,000 in net revenue after shipping expenses and Amazon fees.
The online marketplace makes it possible for specialized books to find buyers far beyond Henderson County. A rare historical volume, an obscure academic text, or a collection devoted to English horse racing may have limited appeal locally but considerable value to a collector elsewhere. And because the proceeds support the public library system, every successful sale contributes to FOTL's larger mission.
More Than a Place to Buy Books
For all its financial success, Heather believes the bookstore's contribution to the community goes beyond dollars and cents. "For a lot of people, this is their community spot," she says. "We have people who come every day we're open. They might not buy a book or a DVD or anything. They come in to chat with people, to have some social interaction."
Unlike the traditional image of a library, the bookstore is often filled with conversation, laughter, and the warm greetings of familiar friends. "This is not the quiet library where you have to use a hushed voice," Heather explains. "You're going to hear people laughing, greeting each other, hugging. It's turned into a great place for Henderson County."
The same sense of connection extends to the volunteers, some of whom have been involved with the organization for decades. For many, their work provides both a meaningful contribution to the community and the companionship of others who share their passion for reading.
That passion is something Heather understands. In an age when so much information is available instantly on a screen, she believes physical books continue to offer something essential. "If you just Google a fact, you get that fact. But with books, you get context," she says. "And reading, especially fiction, makes us more empathetic. You meet people through characters that you might never meet in real life. It broadens your world." She's particularly encouraged by the younger customers who discover the bookstore while searching for CDs or DVDs, only to become interested in books as well.
The bookstore's commitment to literacy also extends beyond its paying customers. FOTL provides free reading materials to organizations throughout Henderson County, including the Boys and Girls Club, Children & Family Resource Center, Henderson County Detention Center, Henderson County Health Department, Henderson County Parks and Recreation, Literacy Connection, and Safelight. These partnerships help put books into the hands of children, families, and adults who might otherwise have limited access to reading materials.
The Stories Between the Pages
Of course, books sometimes carry more than the stories printed on their pages. Over the years, volunteers have discovered an astonishing assortment of objects tucked inside donated books: old letters, airline boarding passes, receipts, postcards, the occasional bit of money, and photographs. A lot of photographs.
A wall of found photographs
Some of these forgotten keepsakes find a second life in a collection the volunteers call "interleaved ephemera" - a wonderfully literary name for the odds and ends left between the pages of books. Postcards, letters, and other paper treasures are offered for as little as ten cents, attracting collage artists, crafters, and people who enjoy making journals from found materials.
But the photographs are another matter. Baby pictures. Wedding photographs. Military portraits. School pictures. Small fragments of lives once lived, tucked away between the pages and eventually forgotten. "We find pictures that were left in books all the time," Lisa explains. "And I just don't have the heart to throw them away." As a result, the volunteers have created a wall displaying some of these photographs, a curious and touching collection of unfamiliar faces.
Perhaps that's because the volunteers understand something about the objects entrusted to their care. A book is rarely just a collection of printed pages. It may have been a treasured possession, a source of comfort, a companion on a journey, or a gift from someone dearly beloved. Sometimes, it carries a small piece of its former owner's life along with it. And at the Friends Bookstore, those books are given another opportunity to matter.
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Nearly seven decades after its founding, Friends of the Henderson County Public Library continues to demonstrate what can happen when people come together around a shared purpose. Its volunteers transform thousands of donated books into financial support for libraries, educational opportunities for children, and reading materials for people throughout the community. Along the way, they've created a welcoming place where friendships flourish and the simple pleasure of discovering a good book is something worth sharing.
There's something wonderfully reassuring about a place where old books find new readers, strangers become friends, and the things we give away can enrich the lives of others. Perhaps that's the real magic of the Friends of the Library Bookstore. It's not just about giving books a second life. It's about the connections they create along the way.
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Visit the Friends Bookstore
1940 Spartanburg Highway, Hendersonville
Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, noon–4 p.m.
828-513-5115 | www.fotl.info
The bookstore accepts donations of books, CDs, DVDs, jigsaw puzzles, and sheet music during regular business hours. Financial contributions and new members are also welcome. Volunteers are especially needed to assist customers during bookstore hours.
