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| A fire in the heart |
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| St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store adds a Fireside Room Book Exchange to its services |
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 | | ANNEMARIE KNEPPER/CENTRAL OREGONIAN | | Art Welch sits before the fireplace in the book exchange room he and others helped to create. |
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When Joe Edmonds of St. Vincent de Paul removed the paneling from the walls of the electronics room in the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store, a fireplace was revealed. The space would become the group's book exchange and thus was dubbed The Fireside Room.
The idea for a book exchange came from St. Vincent de Paul volunteer Sue McReynolds. An avid reader herself, McReynolds had participated in a now defunct book exchange in Bend. She had been going there for years and thought the idea would work here.
"This way people don't have to go all the way to Bend to participate in a book exchange," she said. "And it keeps the money right here at St. Vincent to help support our ministry in social services."
And in the Prineville - Crook County community.
Art Welch, Sue's father, helped Edmonds remodel the space. Edmonds' son Frasier also chipped in.
"The room was remodeled from top to bottom," Edmonds said. "It's the start of changing all the rooms in the house."
Marcella Edmonds, Sammi Pederson and Sue Welch also contributed to the creation of the Fireside Room.
The false fire in the right hand corner - the exchange's namesake - was donated by Sunset Stoves.
"We wanted a friendly room people could come to," Reynolds said. Visitors may have a seat at the tea table and read a bit or just browse the selection.
"We have a little of everything," McReynolds said. "Western, romance, Christian, mystery, cookbooks and videos."
The largest selection is of mysteries, "because I'm into mysteries," she laughed.
The exchange system works like this:
A shopper may come in and buy a book at the listed cost, most between $3 and $5. Or if they choose, they may become a Fireside "member" by bringing in a good quality used book. If the book is accepted, the shopper will receive half off their book purchase. For example, a mystery or romance book may cost $3 to a non-member, but with the exchange of a quality book, a Fireside member may buy it for $1.50.
The store currently houses more than 500 books. Organizers are accepting donations, as long as they are in excellent condition with no torn covers or visible defects.
"We don't take every book," Edmonds said. "We are looking for the modern books in very good condition."
VHS and DVD movies are available for $2.50. There is
no exchange option for movies, though they will accept donations of like new VHS and DVD movies that have only been watched once or twice.
"We want everything as perfect as we can get before we sell it," McReynolds said.
She said she is in the process of creating afghan to be raffled off to help defer the cost of the room.
Edmonds said one of McReynolds' afghans was raffled during St. Vincent de Paul's freezer drive and earned the project $1,000.
"So I thought I would make another one to pay for our expenses in here," McReynolds said.
Raffle tickets will be sold for a drawing just before Christmas. Cost will be $1 per ticket, $5 for six tickets and $20 for 30 tickets.
Edmonds and McReynolds hope residents will donate books to keep the operation going for the whole community to enjoy.
The books and store are nondenominational added McReynolds.
"It's for everybody," she said. |
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