March 7, 2026 • 11 mins
Oftentimes, when your local library is putting on a book sale, it's held at the library itself. In Nahant, they're doing a cleanout of some rare titles that, in some cases, haven't seen the light of day in decades. What's different here is that they're doing it on eBay, opening up bid opportunities from all over the world. Nori Morganstein, Director of the Nahant Public Library, discusses their decision to go digital with this latest book sale, and why it's necessary to part ways with some of these aged books.
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England Weekend.
Each week right here we come together, we talk about
all the topics important to you and the place where
you live. Thanks for tuning in this week. I'm Nicole Davis.
When it comes to keeping things funded and going public,
libraries have to get creative from time to time, and
sometimes that means selling off some books. Sometimes you have
(00:28):
a cart all year long sitting on the side by
the entrance. You can walk in pick out books that
have been donated or that they're rotating out of stock.
Sometimes it's a really big sale where you can go
for a couple of days and bring home a giant
pile of stuff to read. Over in Nahant, they're holding
a book sale there at the public library as well,
but this one is not quite like the rest. You
don't actually have to go there to go buy these books. Instead,
(00:51):
just log onto eBay. They've set up shop there auctioning
off rare titles that in some cases have not seen
the light of day in decades. They're doing this to
bring an extra revat for all kinds of reasons, including
the chance to get fresh, new contemporary books into patron's hands.
Now the library director there is Nori Morgenstein. She joins
us now on the show, and it's good to have you. Nori.
(01:11):
First of all, let's talk about the history of the library,
because it's been around for quite some time.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Not Public Library actually just celebrated it's one hundred and
thirtieth anniversary of the building. Our library collection is actually
much older. It's the third oldest collection in the country.
And yeah, so our collection goes back to eighteen nineteen
and then the building was created in eighteen ninety five
(01:39):
and it was built specifically to hold that collection, so
we still have books from the original collection from eighteen nineteen.
We're still an old historic building, the same building that
was made one hundred and thirty years ago, and we're
considered a historic landmark. We have only four staff. We're
(02:05):
very small library, and I became the director just over
two years ago. It is a library where we know
everybody's names and they know us, and it's really nice.
It helps us to purchase books for the library because
we know what our people like to read, and it
helps us plan programs because we do have that closeness
(02:28):
with the community and they ask for things and we
try to bring it for them.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Yeah, let's talk about this collection that you are going
to be putting up online and that you have already
been putting up online. You were talking about how this
building was essentially built for this epic collection. Where did
you get the idea that maybe it's time to let
a few of these books go?
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Okay? So when I first started, there were a lot
of old books everywhere, and they weren't really organized, and
there was a large section it was just indicated needed
to be tossed. We've tried getting rid of some of
our old library books to booksellers, and for the most part,
they tell us they don't want books that have library
(03:12):
markings on them or anything wrong with them. And I'd
say the majority of our books show a lot of
wear and tear. And they're not all old library books,
but some of them are, and they were withdrawn many
decades ago and they've just been sitting here. And normally,
when a library gets rid of a book, it's because
(03:34):
it's not being checked out anymore, or it has too
much wear, and we get rid of it or we
donate it. But these books nobody had done anything with
for decades, and so they were taking up really valuable space.
As you know, we're a small library and a small
town and space is everything. So over the last couple
(03:56):
of years, I've been working actually with a volunteer. I
can't take the credit. She's the rock star here. Her
name is Joyce Haynes, and volunteering her own time. Has
been going through all these books with us, and she
what I asked her to do is we gave her
a list of names and important events that happened in
(04:20):
the Haunt and the surrounding communities. And if any of
the books are important to the Haunt, we don't want
to sell them or get rid of them. I want
to try to preserve them and keep them in the collection.
And then we have a separate pile of books that
we can sell in our year round book sale, and
we do. The book sale is year round upstairs, and
(04:43):
then once in the summer we bring it outside and
there's a whole section that we call Specials, which make
up a lot of these older books. But as you
should imagine, not a lot of people want to buy
a book that that is that old and has some
damage in it, or as old library placards in it.
(05:04):
So this this idea for eBay came came to light,
and I thought, you know, maybe we can save books
this way, because otherwise we'd end up just getting rid
of them. And I didn't have huge you know, I
didn't think it would be that successful. It was just
sort of a last minute decision because I hate getting
(05:27):
rid of books. There's got to be someone out there
that wants to read them, right, So we started the
eBay page and that's actually run by the Friends of
the Naha Public Library, and which is great because they're
a nonprofit. And yeah, and within within I think maybe
(05:49):
hours of posting the first book, we had a bid
on it. And they've been posting more books with Joyce.
She's been pulling ones. She's the one that's how been
helping us organize and find the right books, and she's
now in charge of selling them on our eBay page
with the friends. And yeah, and we've sold several books
(06:12):
or I don't know if I'm learning the eBay lingo
that people have bid on them and I guess won
them in the auction, okay, and some of them were
experimenting and they have like the buy it now options
and so people can buy things without bidding on them.
(06:32):
And we don't have a lot up yet, but it's
it's a goal to get more and more of these
books that aren't selling and aren't going anywhere, that are
just really gathering dust in the library and put them
in the hands of people who want to read them.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Yeah, and hands of people around the world potentially, because
you can hold a book sale at the library and
you get you know, people from Nahant, maybe some people
from right around the North Shore the Boston area who
might make their way into the library and see these books.
But there's really nothing like essentially opening it up to
a worldwide audience. And there might be somebody in who
knows where, I don't know, Kalamazoo that goes on eBay
(07:08):
and they're looking for a very specific version of war
and peace and oh, by the way, it happens to
be like in the Nahant Library's attic. How incredible is that?
Speaker 2 (07:17):
It is incredible? Yeah, I and books really have sentimental value,
and even me personally, it's hard getting rid of library
books I've never seen or read before. So I know
there's got to be someone out there for each of
these books. And that's really our intention that we do
also want to read money for the library, and all
(07:40):
all the purchases, all the money goes to the fronts
who help us pay for things like library programs and events.
So it's really a really helpful thing, and I really
hope we continue to have success with it.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
And you are making a little bit more space for
newer books that you know kids might enjoy, and more
of that programming and a little bit of spring cleaning
never hurts.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Actually that's true too.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
I'm assuming you do not need donations or do you
want people to maybe give you some of their valuable
older books. What are you looking for?
Speaker 2 (08:11):
We actually take donations every day. They're usually we have
this qualifier where we say they need to be in
good shape. But obviously some of these books on our
eBay page aren't in the bust shape because they've been,
you know, sitting in a no h vac attic or
on a shelf for decades. But for the most part,
(08:32):
for donations, we do take them any day, and a
lot of them just go right immediately to our book sale,
which also benefits the library. And the other thing I
always I always make sure to say we don't take
encyclopedias or magazines because a lot of people want to
get rid of those. We have nowhere to put them.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
No, that's true. I mean national geographics are great, but
if you've got like five hundred, what do you do
with those?
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Like?
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Where do you put them?
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Exactly? Exactly. In my library career, I've had maybe like
forty people want to give us their national geographical not
just in Nahunt but in all the library. It's a thing,
it is.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
I mean, we love them, and then it's like, well
that was nice.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Now what we hope nobody wants to throw it away?
And I think that's actually a really good day. We're
becoming more of a society that is upcycling and reusing.
So I do think there's a home for items everywhere,
I hope.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
So you know, well, if somebody wants to maybe go
put a bit on one of your books, if they want
to find out more about the work the friends are
doing and everything you've got going on at the library,
how can they connect with that?
Speaker 2 (09:41):
So if you go to eBay, you can type in
friends of Nahant Public Library and you will see all
of the items we have posted currently and hopefully that
number will increase soon. Okay, we have a Facebook page
and a website and and our Facebook page often is
(10:02):
just really for library events. We post all the events
that we do, but I also sometimes post bird pictures.
We have a bird buddy, so people love seeing the
birds that visit the library.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
Nice. I love buddy so cute, I.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Know, and it's really great for the library. Who doesn't
love seeing birds and they'll go to our Facebook page
to get update. So currently our bird buddy is surrounded
by a lot of snow that is finally starting to mout,
so I can hopefully get back to it soon. I
feel bad when I'm not feeding the birds, but but yeah,
(10:37):
so we do it. We do have an online presence
and we participate in Zoom programs too, so some of
our programs are digital.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
I appreciate your time, Nori. It is great to have
you here on the show, and best of luck with
selling off your stuff.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Thank you, thanks for wanting to talk to me about it.
I love I'll talk about the library anytime, and thank
you so much.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Have a safe and healthy weekend. Please join us again
next week for another edition of the show. I'm Nicole
Davis from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio.
From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England Weekend.
Each week right here we come together, we talk about
all the topics important to you and the place where
you live. Thanks for tuning in this week. I'm Nicole Davis.
When it comes to keeping things funded and going public,
libraries have to get creative from time to time, and
sometimes that means selling off some books. Sometimes you have
(00:28):
a cart all year long sitting on the side by
the entrance. You can walk in pick out books that
have been donated or that they're rotating out of stock.
Sometimes it's a really big sale where you can go
for a couple of days and bring home a giant
pile of stuff to read. Over in Nahant, they're holding
a book sale there at the public library as well,
but this one is not quite like the rest. You
don't actually have to go there to go buy these books. Instead,
(00:51):
just log onto eBay. They've set up shop there auctioning
off rare titles that in some cases have not seen
the light of day in decades. They're doing this to
bring an extra revat for all kinds of reasons, including
the chance to get fresh, new contemporary books into patron's hands.
Now the library director there is Nori Morgenstein. She joins
us now on the show, and it's good to have you. Nori.
(01:11):
First of all, let's talk about the history of the library,
because it's been around for quite some time.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Not Public Library actually just celebrated it's one hundred and
thirtieth anniversary of the building. Our library collection is actually
much older. It's the third oldest collection in the country.
And yeah, so our collection goes back to eighteen nineteen
and then the building was created in eighteen ninety five
(01:39):
and it was built specifically to hold that collection, so
we still have books from the original collection from eighteen nineteen.
We're still an old historic building, the same building that
was made one hundred and thirty years ago, and we're
considered a historic landmark. We have only four staff. We're
(02:05):
very small library, and I became the director just over
two years ago. It is a library where we know
everybody's names and they know us, and it's really nice.
It helps us to purchase books for the library because
we know what our people like to read, and it
helps us plan programs because we do have that closeness
(02:28):
with the community and they ask for things and we
try to bring it for them.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Yeah, let's talk about this collection that you are going
to be putting up online and that you have already
been putting up online. You were talking about how this
building was essentially built for this epic collection. Where did
you get the idea that maybe it's time to let
a few of these books go?
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Okay? So when I first started, there were a lot
of old books everywhere, and they weren't really organized, and
there was a large section it was just indicated needed
to be tossed. We've tried getting rid of some of
our old library books to booksellers, and for the most part,
they tell us they don't want books that have library
(03:12):
markings on them or anything wrong with them. And I'd
say the majority of our books show a lot of
wear and tear. And they're not all old library books,
but some of them are, and they were withdrawn many
decades ago and they've just been sitting here. And normally,
when a library gets rid of a book, it's because
(03:34):
it's not being checked out anymore, or it has too
much wear, and we get rid of it or we
donate it. But these books nobody had done anything with
for decades, and so they were taking up really valuable space.
As you know, we're a small library and a small
town and space is everything. So over the last couple
(03:56):
of years, I've been working actually with a volunteer. I
can't take the credit. She's the rock star here. Her
name is Joyce Haynes, and volunteering her own time. Has
been going through all these books with us, and she
what I asked her to do is we gave her
a list of names and important events that happened in
(04:20):
the Haunt and the surrounding communities. And if any of
the books are important to the Haunt, we don't want
to sell them or get rid of them. I want
to try to preserve them and keep them in the collection.
And then we have a separate pile of books that
we can sell in our year round book sale, and
we do. The book sale is year round upstairs, and
(04:43):
then once in the summer we bring it outside and
there's a whole section that we call Specials, which make
up a lot of these older books. But as you
should imagine, not a lot of people want to buy
a book that that is that old and has some
damage in it, or as old library placards in it.
(05:04):
So this this idea for eBay came came to light,
and I thought, you know, maybe we can save books
this way, because otherwise we'd end up just getting rid
of them. And I didn't have huge you know, I
didn't think it would be that successful. It was just
sort of a last minute decision because I hate getting
(05:27):
rid of books. There's got to be someone out there
that wants to read them, right, So we started the
eBay page and that's actually run by the Friends of
the Naha Public Library, and which is great because they're
a nonprofit. And yeah, and within within I think maybe
(05:49):
hours of posting the first book, we had a bid
on it. And they've been posting more books with Joyce.
She's been pulling ones. She's the one that's how been
helping us organize and find the right books, and she's
now in charge of selling them on our eBay page
with the friends. And yeah, and we've sold several books
(06:12):
or I don't know if I'm learning the eBay lingo
that people have bid on them and I guess won
them in the auction, okay, and some of them were
experimenting and they have like the buy it now options
and so people can buy things without bidding on them.
(06:32):
And we don't have a lot up yet, but it's
it's a goal to get more and more of these
books that aren't selling and aren't going anywhere, that are
just really gathering dust in the library and put them
in the hands of people who want to read them.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Yeah, and hands of people around the world potentially, because
you can hold a book sale at the library and
you get you know, people from Nahant, maybe some people
from right around the North Shore the Boston area who
might make their way into the library and see these books.
But there's really nothing like essentially opening it up to
a worldwide audience. And there might be somebody in who
knows where, I don't know, Kalamazoo that goes on eBay
(07:08):
and they're looking for a very specific version of war
and peace and oh, by the way, it happens to
be like in the Nahant Library's attic. How incredible is that?
Speaker 2 (07:17):
It is incredible? Yeah, I and books really have sentimental value,
and even me personally, it's hard getting rid of library
books I've never seen or read before. So I know
there's got to be someone out there for each of
these books. And that's really our intention that we do
also want to read money for the library, and all
(07:40):
all the purchases, all the money goes to the fronts
who help us pay for things like library programs and events.
So it's really a really helpful thing, and I really
hope we continue to have success with it.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
And you are making a little bit more space for
newer books that you know kids might enjoy, and more
of that programming and a little bit of spring cleaning
never hurts.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Actually that's true too.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
I'm assuming you do not need donations or do you
want people to maybe give you some of their valuable
older books. What are you looking for?
Speaker 2 (08:11):
We actually take donations every day. They're usually we have
this qualifier where we say they need to be in
good shape. But obviously some of these books on our
eBay page aren't in the bust shape because they've been,
you know, sitting in a no h vac attic or
on a shelf for decades. But for the most part,
(08:32):
for donations, we do take them any day, and a
lot of them just go right immediately to our book sale,
which also benefits the library. And the other thing I
always I always make sure to say we don't take
encyclopedias or magazines because a lot of people want to
get rid of those. We have nowhere to put them.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
No, that's true. I mean national geographics are great, but
if you've got like five hundred, what do you do
with those?
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Like?
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Where do you put them?
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Exactly? Exactly. In my library career, I've had maybe like
forty people want to give us their national geographical not
just in Nahunt but in all the library. It's a thing,
it is.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
I mean, we love them, and then it's like, well
that was nice.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Now what we hope nobody wants to throw it away?
And I think that's actually a really good day. We're
becoming more of a society that is upcycling and reusing.
So I do think there's a home for items everywhere,
I hope.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
So you know, well, if somebody wants to maybe go
put a bit on one of your books, if they want
to find out more about the work the friends are
doing and everything you've got going on at the library,
how can they connect with that?
Speaker 2 (09:41):
So if you go to eBay, you can type in
friends of Nahant Public Library and you will see all
of the items we have posted currently and hopefully that
number will increase soon. Okay, we have a Facebook page
and a website and and our Facebook page often is
(10:02):
just really for library events. We post all the events
that we do, but I also sometimes post bird pictures.
We have a bird buddy, so people love seeing the
birds that visit the library.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
Nice. I love buddy so cute, I.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Know, and it's really great for the library. Who doesn't
love seeing birds and they'll go to our Facebook page
to get update. So currently our bird buddy is surrounded
by a lot of snow that is finally starting to mout,
so I can hopefully get back to it soon. I
feel bad when I'm not feeding the birds, but but yeah,
(10:37):
so we do it. We do have an online presence
and we participate in Zoom programs too, so some of
our programs are digital.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
I appreciate your time, Nori. It is great to have
you here on the show, and best of luck with
selling off your stuff.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Thank you, thanks for wanting to talk to me about it.
I love I'll talk about the library anytime, and thank
you so much.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Have a safe and healthy weekend. Please join us again
next week for another edition of the show. I'm Nicole
Davis from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio.
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