Friends of the Library jewelry sale brings more people, donations

Nov 18, 2023

The annual jewelry sale at the Mattapoisett Library took place on Nov. 18 — but the Mattapoisett Library has been fielding questions about it since May. 

“Some people take it really seriously,” said Library Director Jennifer Jones. 

“People love a bargain,” said volunteer and sale organizer Nancy Christie. 

The Friends of the Mattapoisett Library, who host the event every year, have collected jewelry, wallet and scarf donations since September. This year, they received so many items that they needed to expand into a second room for the first time. 

“This year, my office, it looked a little bit like a boutique,” Jones said, referring to how much jewelry was stored there for the sale. 

The sale ran from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for the public, but members of the Friends of the Library received a special preview the night before. 

“We got an incredible amount of awesome stuff,” Christie said. 

Christie guessed that the sale’s total for just the Friday night preview was similar to what the entire sale made in past years. 

The sale’s organizers spent months sorting through the jewelry and organizing it for the sale, and then a couple full days setting it up inside the Library. 

“People are always willing to help out,” Christie said. 

All of the funds raised support for the Friends of the Library’s mission, which includes purchasing the free museum passes provided by the Mattapoisett Library and sponsoring children’s programs.

“There’s quite a lot of support they give us,” Jones said. 

Pamela McDuffie, from Fairhaven, came to the sale for the first time this year and said she was “very excited” to be there. 

It was also the first time for Tracy Karolczuk, from Dighton, who thought the sale was “fantastic” and “well organized.” Karolczuk said she would “highly recommend” it to people that haven’t been before. 

“Jewelry makes people happy, they just love it, they get excited for it,” Christie said.