Westport Book Shop Celebrates Second Anniversary
Press ReleaseThe Westport Book Shop’s Second Anniversary is coming up at the end of this month, and everyone is invited to celebrate with us! Plans include a celebration in honor of our volunteers, and a “Show Some Love” social media video contest, detailed below.
The Westport Book Shop is downtown Westport’s only non-profit used book store, offering previously read and greatly appreciated books, hard to find out-of-print and antiquarian books, vintage vinyl records, CDs, DVDs, and audio books. It is operated by the independent non-profit Westport Book Sale Ventures, the mission of which is to raise funds for the Westport Library, while providing competitive employment and job training for adults with disabilities.
Since opening the Book Shop on January 28, 2021, the Book Sale and the Book Shop have provided over 3,500 hours of paid employment for a dozen employees with differing abilities, and have donated over $75,000 to the Westport Library.
None of this would be possible without an army of dedicated volunteers who generously give of their time and talents to the Book Sale and the Book Shop all year ‘round. On Saturday, January 28th we will be holding a Volunteer Appreciation Celebration at the Westport Library from 10:30am to Noon. Come celebrate our Volunteers with us! Please RSVP to volunteers@westportbooksales.org (or call 203-952-0070) and let us know if you plan to join us so that we can estimate a headcount for planning purposes.
In addition, in honor of its anniversary, the Westport Book Shop is sponsoring a “Show Some Love” video contest. Entrants are asked to film a short family-friendly video at the Westport Book Shop that shows their love for the Book Shop, and then post the video to their own TikTok and /or Instagram accounts, and tag three friends plus tag the Book Shop’s accounts. Every entrant will get to choose one free vinyl record, CD or book from the Shop, valued at $6 or less, and one lucky entrant also will win a $50 Westport Book Shop gift certificate. The winner will be announced at the Volunteer Appreciation Celebration. A second $50 Book Shop gift certificate will be awarded to the entrant whose video receives the most “likes” on the Book Sale’s social media accounts. Copies of the full Show Your Love Contest Rules and entry forms are available at the Book Shop, and on the Book Sale’s website at www.westportbooksaleventures.org/our-events
The Westport Book Shop also will be sponsoring children’s story readings at the Book Shop all anniversary weekend, Saturday January 28 and Sunday January 29. “We are so very grateful for all the volunteers who sort, evaluate and price the tens of thousands of book donations that we receive throughout the year, and work at our book sales, and help keep the Book Shop running. We are equally grateful to our community who support the Book Sale and the Book Shop. We embrace being a community space!” said Westport Book Sale Ventures President Jocelyn Barandiaran. The Westport Book Shop is located at 23 Jesup Road, right across Jesup Green from the Westport Library. It is open Sundays and Mondays from Noon to 5 p.m. and Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (On Saturday, January 28th the Book Shop will delay opening until Noon, so that everyone at the Shop can enjoy the festivities at the Library that morning.)