California book store forced to close, throw away 100,000 books
By Jason Marks
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CARMICHAEL, California (KCRA) — There are many people out there who get turned off by the idea of dumpster diving, but over the last few days, book lovers in Carmichael have done just that in search of their favorite author.
Bookworm was a family-run store along Marconi Avenue that was in business for three decades. However, it could not survive the drop in business caused by COVID-19.
The owner told KCRA 3 she decided to close her doors for good when she couldn’t find any employees or pay her bills. She tried giving the books away, but that also turned out to be difficult.
So her only option left was to leave her roughly 100,000 books in the dumpster, much to the joy of anyone looking for a new read.
“There is a lot to offer in this bin,” Angel Takara, a book lover who scrounged through the pile, said.
Gloria McDaniel was also in the dumpster, but far from being down in the dumps herself.
For McDaniel, “books tell stories,” and diving into a dumpster for books is its own story.
“I’ve never been in a dumpster,” McDaniel said while chuckling. “My husband would probably kill me.”
Dolly Jackson, who was also searching for a new read, mentioned a photo posted online where the dumpster was filled to the brim with books. By Monday afternoon, most of those books were gone, and people were able to walk inside the dumpster.
The owner said it was heartbreaking to let go of those books, an estimated loss of nearly $500,000.
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