[Writer's note:  I started attending the Friends of the El Cerrito Library book sales several years ago, and now wouldn't consider missing one. The books are clean, in great condition, and at prices you can't beat. They sell a good selection of CDs and films as well. I also borrow from the library and am there at least twice a week. The staff is friendly and helpful, and the selection of fiction, non-fiction and DVDs is wide-ranging. My only complaint is that my four-legged, fur child, Lola, all eight pounds of her and very fashionably dressed, I assure you, is discriminated against, as by so many institutions, and is not allowed to cross the portal.]

This is a story about a phenomenon that would probably be considered by anyone born pre-1990s as a "Who'd a thunk it?" or as science fiction. This eighth wonder of the world is known as the Internet, and has changed the lives of millions worldwide.

Take, for instance, the Friends of the El Cerrito Library, an organization started in 1961. There has been a county library in El Cerrito since 1913, when one was opened in the post office. It moved three times, according to the Fall 2007 edition of the El Cerrito Historical Society's The Forge, before landing in its present location in 1949. (The building was upgraded in 1960.)

The Friends, whose president is former El Cerrito Librarian Grace MacNeill, traditionally raise money by encouraging gifts to the library, collecting dues and holding book sales, sometimes outside the library's front door; otherwise in a small, but well-organized, room under the library and in the back parking lot. They still do this, and MacNeill, who can be found most days in this basement room, oversees the sorting and organization of all the on-site sales, which includes a well-stocked cart of books for sale in the library. The money accrued from these sources pays for materials and children's programs not in the budget.

However, never let it be said that people who have their noses in books have their heads in the clouds. Far from it. Three of the Friends — when asked whether they were readers, a deafening chorus responded in the affirmative — all take books home, read them, and return them. A volunteer's perk! 

But they undertake a whole lot more than reading. Volunteers for at least 25 years each, these three volunteers have brought the Friends into the 21st century by selling books on the Internet. 

"It seemed like a good idea," says Marian MacLeod. "We started to sell books online in 2005." 

As of 2009, they have increased the number of online books from about 500 to more than 700, she adds. The 2010 sales numbers are not yet compete.

Nancy Stout and MacLeod pore through stacks of books that look promising. By promising, this means that other online booksellers advertise the book for more than $6 (the Friends' minimum price for selling a book online), the condition is very good, and the book is either rare or has some other intrinsic appeal or value. 

The latter is often a shot in the dark. Each book has its own appeal and what may look valuable because it's old, isn't. Or a cluster of small magazines of Japanese prints may be worth hundreds of dollars. Here again, the Internet plays a role, because Stout and MacLeod look up each book online -- Alibris, Amazon, and AbeBooks,  to name a few sources -- and then decide whether to list it with Woody's Books Inc., a California company that since 2004 has grown to be one of the largest independent online book sellers in six different countries. Woody's is an umbrella outlet for non-profit organizations, which lists its books on Amazon.

"Although we pay a fee for using Woody's and not going directly to Amazon, there are other advantages for us that make this approach worth it," says Stout.

The Friends list the books initially at the top price they hope to get. If the book hasn't sold after several months, they reduce the cost. 

"Then, if a book hasn't sold online in four or five months," says Stout, "They are pulled and added to our on-site Library sales at a cheaper price." 

The third member of Team Online is Ann Goolosby, who packages all the books sold and then takes these treasures to main the post office on San Pablo Avenue.

"It's not hard to do," she says. "I seldom have to wait too long."  But it's a crucial part of the operation; other Bay Area Friends' groups don't list books online directly, because no one wants to stand in line at the post office carrying a load of books. Instead, they may use a local online bookseller, who lists their books, and they divide the profits.

Goolosby has mailed books to far points of the world, among the: South Africa, Portugal, military APO addresses and Australia.

"We listed a book about a rare Australian tree," says Stout. "Someone from Australia bought it."

"We also sent a book to a federal prison on the East Coast," adds MacLeod, "but the prison wouldn't take the delivery."

Team Online weighs the books before they mail them, so they know what to charge the customer for shipping. "But we don't get fully reimbursed, and usually end up several hundred dollars in the hole," says MacLeod.

Adds Stout, "Amazon reimburses us the difference in shipping at the end of the year."

Team Online's venture into the internet world has added significantly to the Friends' coffers. In their five years of listing online, they have netted about $24,000, says Stout. All the more money for the library for material and programs; all the more avenues of learning and pleasure for El Cerrito readers.  Enjoy!

The board of the Friends of the El Cerrito Library meets on the second Tuesday of the month at 4 p.m. at the library.Visitors are encouraged to attend. If you want to join the Friends, membership envelopes are available on the table beside the library's reference desk.

Correction: The initial version of this story gave an incorrect amount for the income netted from online book sales. The story has been corrected to include the correct figure of approximately $24,000.