Friends of the Brentwood Library's Quartly Book Sales fill both meeting rooms.

Friends' winter book sale starts next week
Brentwood Home Page staff reports

The Brentwood Library’s Feb. 20-26 calendar won’t fit on most traditional Daytimers. It’s a good thing the library now embraces e-readers, smart phones and all things digital. You need such a device to keep with all of events scheduled there.

The Williamson County Election Commission has filed a lawsuit in order to be able to use the library as an early voting site next month for the Presidential Preference Primary. The city has said it can’t accommodate the election, that it’s already booked.

A review of the calendar shows the Tennessee Municipal Attorney’s Association, the Brentwood Woman’s Club, the Brentwood Fire and Rescue Department, multiple fitness classes, the library's "Stitchers” group and Cub Scout Pack 136 are among the groups planning to use one or both of the large meeting rooms for one to eight hours at a time.

“We have at least five biggies in February that would be impacted,” Library Directory Susan Earl said of already-scheduled events that would be cancelled, rescheduled or moved if the library ultimately is moved. “Those rooms are booked all the time.”

“Four years ago we did have presidential early voting, even though we were under renovation which I thought was very generous,” said Earl. She noted the city and the library have worked with the Election Commission in the past on various elections, and “in fact, we are ready for 2012 election days,” scheduled Aug. 2 and Nov. 6.

While February’s event calendar is one matter, future early voting dates could have more significant impact on the library.

Mary Lou Montague is president of Friends of Brentwood Library, the library’s main volunteer and fundraising organization. One of the ways the Friends make money is through its Quarterly Used Book Sale. The past two sales have raised $26,000. Both the summer and fall sales are already scheduled at the same time early voting is scheduled to take place at sites across the county.

The library’s Summer Reading Program, which typically draws 600 participants, is scheduled during the July early voting period.

“I feel really bad it’s come to a lawsuit, because it’s so not what we’re used to around here,” Montague said. “We do have a good reason not to do this. Our library is such a busy place all the time. … We try to go out of our way to have happy patrons. It’s not that we’re being stubborn.”

Early elections have impacted the book sales in the past, Montague recalled. “It was amazing how many people came a week early or a week late. It’s like a family gathering. We were amazed at how many actually came at the wrong time, but they really came at the right time. We just had to move it.”

The winter Friends book sale opens next week on Wednesday, Jan. 19 and runs through Saturday, Jan. 21.

She said she can see why the Election Commission – and so many other groups and organizations want to use the Concord Road facility.

“It looks like the perfect place for something like this, but every bit of it is used,” Montague said.  

Earl concurred.

“Four years ago we did have presidential early voting, even though we were under renovation,” Earl said. Though she was not yet on staff, she said staff has talked to her about the experience.  “I only know that the line went all the way past the reference desk into the reading space because it was huge.”