"We call them the thundering herd," says library director Jody Ford, who claims that some die-hards arrive nearly an hour before the ribbon is cut for the 10AM charge to the Book Barn. "I was nearly run over the first year that I was librarian. I was standing in the center of the driveway, and all of a sudden the staff started screaming at me to get out of the way."

What's the allure? The barn and its neighboring tables contain as many as 9,000 used books at rock-bottom prices. Though volunteers hand-sort donated books, culling what former Book Barn chair Casey Kurtti has dubbed "the Tiffany items" for individual pricing, there's always the chance of finding the one that got away. Poet Mikhail Horowitz still gloats over finding a paperback hand-inscribed to Communion author Whitley Strieber from Beat writer William S. Burroughs. As he waited on line, Horowitz found a personal letter from Burroughs, whose autograph now fetches hundreds of dollars, tucked into its pages. "I'm literally breaking out in a cold sweat - I feel like I'm smuggling hashish through the Turkish border." The book's price? Fifty cents.

In 2003, the Stone Ridge Library introduced a more reliable way to find autographed books: its new local authors table offered over a hundred signed titles by 42 area writers, including novelists Laura Shaine Cunningham, Luc Sante, and Kim Wozencraft, screenwriters Ron Nyswaner and Zachary Sklar, children's author/illustrators Barbara Bash and Jon J. Muth, sportswriter Roger Kahn and Chicago composer John Kander. "All these people live here?" gushed one awestruck customer.

They do, and so do the artists, bakers, gardeners, musicians, face-painters, raffle donors, and hundreds of volunteers who make up a typical library fair. The 58th Stone Ridge Library Fair, on June 12, will kick off the trio of fairs that has graced Ulster County summers for decades. The most venerable is the Woodstock Library Fair, founded (under the name "country fair") in 1931, is set for July 31. New Paltz's Elting Memorial Library's fair runs a close second; the library will hold its 48th library fair on July 10 and 11.

All three fairs offer a lively blend of outdoor entertainment, arts and crafts, children's activities, raffles, old and new merchandise, food booths - and, of course, books. These beloved community events are also essential fundraisers for their respective libraries. Though the Stone Ridge Library recently became tax-supported, it still needs to raise over 20 percent of its annual budget on its own. "The library fair is the major fundraiser. We couldn't operate without it," says Jody Ford.

STONE RIDGE
One month before Fair Day, the library's conjoined 1780 and 1810 stone houses are a hive of activity. There are piles of posters and volunteer sign-ups across from the circulation desk (one list says plaintively, "Anything!") The basement is crammed with used toys, Ford's tiny office with canvases for the Marbletown Arts Association's Baby Barn Gallery. In the warren of low-ceilinged attics, volunteers price donations for Empress Eleanore's Emporium (new and collectible gifts) and sort clothes for the popular rummage sale.

The overseer of these activities (and a staggering array of logistical details ranging from shuttle busses to Port-a-Potties and Bouncitty-Bounce rentals)  this year is Barbara Cazakoff, a recent retiree from the New York Department of Labor. "She's one of the most organized people I've ever met in my life," marvels Ford.

Some of Cazakoff's innovations are a printed program with a site map and advertising space, and the introduction of local crafts vendors alongside traditional volunteer-run booths such as plants, bake sale, toys, and children's games. This year's silent auction will accept bids for a full week before Fair Day; raffle tickets are already on sale. Both feature an impressive assortment of goods and services donated by local businesses and library patrons.

The heart and soul of the Stone Ridge Library Fair is its huge corps of volunteers, many of whom have been at it for decades. "A whole generation of kids has grown up at the fair," says Ford, noting that the teens who run the hair-braiding booth used to be carried in Snuglis while their parents volunteered. But Cazakoff points out that some of her star volunteers are brand new to both fair and community. "We have people with expertise in marketing, retail sales, graphic arts. Everyone brings a creative twist. It's exciting to know that there's this much talent in the neighborhood."

There's an abundance of musical talent as well. Local recording artist Kurt Henry has booked a stellar lineup for the fair's stage; there will also be children's entertainers and a roving rummage fashion show. And the library desk will stay open during the event; fair patrons can check out books between courses of sausage and peppers and strawberry shortcake.

WOODSTOCK
The unique flavor of the Woodstock Library Fair is evident even before patrons park: the traffic bottleneck caused by closing Library Lane is managed not by a uniformed cop, but by the "library fairy," in full winged regalia, directing traffic with her wand.

The first "country fairs" paid homage to the library's roots in the Byrdcliffe and Maverick artists' colonies with brightly colored costumes. (This tradition continues with "fun and outrageous hats" that are made in the Youthstock craft area.) Some early fairs included dog-tail wagging and fiddling contests, pony rides, an auction of carousel horses painted by local artists, and a roaming gypsy orchestra.

Even without the gypsies, the Woodstock Fair is distinctive. There's a long row of community tables handing out literature for various causes, a body awareness section which offers quickie massages, reiki, and qi gong; there are Tarot readers and other prognosticators. The Art Van, run by retired Onteora art teacher Ken White, is a traveling gallery housed in a bakery van, and the "bookfare" section showcases local authors, publishers, and book dealers.

Woodstock's 2004 fair chair, Michelle Slung, moved to Woodstock three years ago and volunteered immediately. The first year, she served on the food line. Last year, she introduced the White Elephant Boutique, hoping to quell residual grumbles about the fair scrapping its rummage sale ("We wanted to get rid of the broken hair dryers and old shower caps," she says, noting that white elephant sales can include anything from a pogo stick to a set of 1950s tufted pink vinyl kitchen chairs.)

The Woodstock Library Fair is run by the non-profit Friends of the Library. The money it raises - as much as $15,000 - supports the Library Forum (a year-round series of lectures and readings), the children's summer reading program, and capital purchases such as a new microfilm reader-printer, computers, roof and driveway repairs, and countless new books.

Surprisingly, though, the library fair is not the Friends' most lucrative fundraiser. That honor goes to the biweekly series of book sales held from April to December in the two-bay garage and barn next to the library building. Book sale chair Cynthia Reynolds groans out loud when asked how many books might change hands at an average sale. "There's no way to guess. It's certainly by the hundreds and thousands." Sometimes Reynolds and her crew arrive to find 30 cartons of books in the driveway. They work all winter long, sorting used-book donations in front of the space heater.

Needless to say, there will be a book sale on Fair Day, July 31. Long-time fair organizer Michael Perkins says, "It's Woodstock's oldest and largest community celebration for the entire family. Everyone comes, from movie stars to little children."

NEW PALTZ
The Elting Memorial Library in New Paltz is the Little Library That Could, with the smallest space and the most ambitious fair: two days instead of one, raising over $20,000 a year. It's an all-volunteer effort, with no outside vendors.

The 2004 Fair Chair Annell DeFino stepped up after two years of running the Toy Booth. "I've been going to the Library Fair since I was a little girl, and the feeling is really comfortable, homey. From the street, it looks as if we have no space at all, but when you step around back, there's this whole little world going on." The courtyard behind the Library offers plants, toys, jewelry, food, crafts, and children's activities as well as books; the Flea Market is held in the new parking lot on the corner.

The Elting Fair features a huge raffle with hundreds of prizes. The one-dollar tickets are sold for months in advance of the Fair; the grand prize is often a weekend for two at Mohonk Mountain House. "The local merchants are wonderful," DeFino raves, "They donate to the silent auction, the raffle; they donate food. We're so grateful."

The irrepressible Sally Rhodes has managed the Book Shed for 30 years. "I've sold books in hurricanes. Eight years ago, we had torrential rains, and the Shed is at the bottom of the yard. The water ran down the stairs and right inside. We were literally floating. My only regret is that no one brought a camera." Camera or not, they still managed to sell $2,500 worth of books before closing at 1PM. "We've also had 100-degree days, when everyone melted, and lovely days. People come no matter what."

Rhodes and her hundred-plus volunteers accept anything but copies of Reader's Digest, textbooks, and magazines. There's an Early Bird preview from 8AM to 9AM on Saturday, at which hardcore booklovers pay five dollars for first browsing rights. Prices are seductively low: thirty-five cents for paperbacks, one dollar for hardcovers, with art books and rarities priced individually. "I haven't seen any Gutenberg Bibles," Rhodes grins, "but we have had some very nice things."

As an Association Library, without tax-based support, Elting relies heavily on its three Fairs (Library Fair in July, Antiques Fairs in Spring and Fall) to pay its expenses. But Sally Rhodes says, "The really great thing isn't so much the money, as much as that helps. The Library Fair is the community event in New Paltz, where all differences are forgotten. Everyone's there for the good of the Library."
Michelle Slung likens the spirit of Library Fairs to a traditional English village fete. If you want to be part of your village tradition, come run with the Thundering Herd, be a volunteer, buy raffle tickets, or comb through your bookshelves and make a donation. As Jody Ford notes, "Two days after the Fair, we start in collecting for next year."

LIBRARY FAIRS
Elting Memorial Library Fair
Saturday, July 10, 9-3 &
Sunday, July 11, 9-4
New Paltz / Admission free
(845) 255-5030

Phoenicia Library Fair
Saturday, June 12, 11-2
(845) 688-7811 / Admission free

Stone Ridge Library Fair
Saturday, June 12, 10-4
(845) 687-7023 / Admission free

Woodstock Library Fair
Saturday, July 31, 10-5
(845) 679-2213 / Admission $1.00

BOOK FAIRS
Friends of the Library Book Sale
at the South Hills Mall
Sept. 10-14 and Dec. 3-5
sponsored by Adriance Memorial Library Poughkeepsie / (845) 473-1464
www.poklibfriends.org

Kingston Area Library
quarterly Book Sale
August date TBA / (845) 331-0507

Friends of the Library Book
Sale at Cantine Field
Saturday, May 29
Saugerties / (845) 246-4317

Art Show & Book Sale
Saturday, June 5, 9-5
Starr Library, Rhinebeck
(845) 876-4030

West Hurley Book Sale/
Raffle/Bake Sale
September date TBA / (845) 679-6405

Woodstock Library Book Sales
June 5 & 19 / July 10 & 31
Aug. 14 & 28 / Sept. 2 & 11 / Oct. 2
HALF-PRICE Oct. 16; GIVE-AWAY
Oct. 30; ANNUAL HOLIDAY SALE
Dec. 4 (845) 679-2213

ONGOING BOOK SALES
The following libraries hold ongoing sales of used books during regular library hours: Hillsdale Public Library, Howland Public Library (Beacon Reads), Millbrook Library, Olive Free Library, Phoenicia Library, Plattekill Public Library, Pleasant Valley Free Library, Rosendale Library Book
Cellar and Booktique.

LIBRARY INFORMATION
The Mid-Hudson Library System maintains a Web site with links to 66 local library Web sites and event schedules. For more information, go to www.midhudson.org/alpha.html.