UPDATE: We heard from Justin Krewatch of a book company called Amerifolio this morning, who clarified that Literacy Friends of Charleston is the charitable arm of the company. He confirmed that the book sale is for-profit, and that Charleston County School District teachers and librarians and Charleston County librarians have been invited to come in at different times during and after the sale to take books for free.
We recently received some interesting information from the Charleston Friends of the Library‘s executive director, Emily Everett.
The organization received a flier via email for something called The Big Bargain Book Sale hosted by the Literacy Friends of Charleston — an organization that we at the City Paper haven’t been able to track down. There’s no 501c(3) record of the group nor is there a website. The only information available is on the group’s Facebook page, which includes no contact information.
We reached out to Communities in Schools to see if they were aware of Literacy Friends of Charleston, and they pointed us toward the Charleston County School District. The District had received information about the sale, and let CCSD teachers know that they would be able to pick up leftover books after the sale was finished (presumably for free, although we haven’t been able to confirm that, as CCSD is closed this week and efforts to reach them have so far been unsuccessful).
Everett was notified about the sale originally by friends at the Omar Shrine Center, where CFOL hosts its annual That BIG Book Sale in October (and where the Big Bargain Book Sale will be held as well). The person organizing the sale, who is presumably connected with Literacy Friends of Charleston, is Jason Krewatch, owner of the for-profit business Amerifolio. As far as Everett has been able to find out, proceeds from the Literacy Friends’ book sale will be 100 percent for the business.
Because of the similarity in the names of both the sales and the organizations, as well as the design of the two sale fliers, Everett became concerned that patrons would confuse the Big Bargain Book Sale with That BIG Book Sale. There are several differences between the two, but perhaps the most important for shoppers is that proceeds from That BIG Book Sale directly support the Charleston Friends of the Library, which raises money and advocates for the Charleston County Public Library.
Stay cool. Support City Paper.
City Paper has been bringing the best news, food, arts, music and event coverage to the Holy City since 1997. Support our continued efforts to highlight the best of Charleston with a one-time donation or become a member of the City Paper Club.