Friends of the Ramona Library promote reading at two events – San Diego Union-Tribune

Friends of the Ramona Library are participating in two events in February that promote reading and literacy in local communities.

The first is a Book Crawl presented by The Library Friends of San Diego County. The inaugural event encourages people to visit the bookstores of East County libraries from Feb. 14-21.

On the final day of the Book Crawl, Saturday, Feb. 21, the Friends of the Ramona Library will host a book sale with fiction, non-fiction, cookbooks, children’s books, how-to books and audio books from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the lobby at 1275 Main St.

Aside from Ramona, the libraries involved in the Book Crawl are in Alpine, Descanso, El Cajon, Lakeside, La Mesa, Rancho San Diego and Santee.

Ramona Valencia, a board member of the Friends of the Ramona Library, said the goal of the crawl is to introduce participants to the bookstores of area libraries such as Ramona’s The Open Book Store.

“We want people to have a good time visiting the bookstores and seeing what they have to offer,” said Valencia, who volunteers at The Open Bookstore. “They’re all unique and do different things, but they all sell books.”

Those who want to participate in the Book Crawl can start by getting a passport at any of the participating library bookstores. Then they can have their passports stamped when visiting one of the bookstores. Prizes will be awarded for different levels such as a bookmark for one visit, stickers for four visits and a tote bag for completing all eight visits.

Participants can also enter a raffle for more prizes, Valencia said.

The idea for the first Book Crawl originated with the Friends of the Santee Library. Plans are underway to expand it next year to include coastal or southern region library bookstores if all goes well this year, she said.

“We’re the only bookstore in Ramona and some people don’t know we’re here,” she said.

The event culminates on Feb. 21 with a separate book sale in which shoppers in Ramona can fill a provided grocery bag with books for $4. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., buyers can pay by cash, check, credit cards and PayPal.

The sale offers a “sweetheart of a deal” during the month of February, Valencia said of the sale of surplus books.

“We get more books than we can sell, and this gets people into the library,” she said, adding that proceeds go to scholarships and library programs.