Volunteers watched the wall clock and braced themselves for what one described as “a book scrum.”
At precisely 5 p.m. on Wednesday at the University of Wisconsin-Madisonâ??s Memorial Library, the stateâ??s largest book sale began with a rush of customers as quick as the wind off Lake Mendota. Several dozen patrons â?? some of whom are book dealers from as far away as Tennessee and had been waiting since 7 a.m. â?? clawed at more than 15,000 used books.
“Itâ??s like opening the cages to the zoo and letting the animals out,” said Beth Kuply of event sponsor Friends of UW-Madison Libraries.