The Falls Church branch of the American Association of University Women is in jeopardy of discontinuing its annual book sale due to a lack of storage space.
After 30 years of sorting and storing donated books for the book sale at a member’s home, that option is no longer available. The AAUW needs about the equivalent of a two car garage — about 400 square feet — for storage of the books, and about the same area — approximately two parking spaces worth — which can be outside, for the sorting done in the fall and spring. It needs to be accessible by a truck for moving the books to the Falls Church Community Center at the time of the sale and, if possible, should be at ground level or accessible by elevator.
For the last 30 years Falls Church AAUW has sponsored a used book sale which has allowed the group to provide $300,000 in scholarships for girls in the Falls Church community. The sale is AAUW’s primary means of earning the money given to girl graduates each year to continue their education — girls from George Mason High School, Falls Church High School and Justice High School. Many of AAUW’s scholarship recipients are the first in their families to go on to higher education. These funds also allow the group to fund programs at Aurora House, the AVID Program at Justice High schools and many other projects.
The annual book sale has allowed AAUW to continue its mission to advance gender equity for women and girls through research, education and advocacy. AAUW hopes and believes that a community member may be able to give the group some leads, has an unused garage or knows of a church or community that may have the available space.
Community members interested in helping out the AAUW are encouraged to contact Sarah John at sarahjohn2857@gmail.com, Diane Bodeen at Bodeendv@verizon.net or Aida Loomis at aLoomis@gphone.com or phone the AAUW at 703-400-3749 or 703-637-4488.
