Katie Spoonire of Springettsbury Township browses through the many books available for sale at the York County Heritage Trust's 11th annual Book Blast sale on Friday, Aug. 12, 2011, at the Agricultural and Industrial Museum. Spoonire said she was looking mostly for spiritual novels but was browsing the whole sale. The York County Heritage Trust Library Committee is hosting its 11th annual Book Blast sale on Aug. 11-13 at the Agricultural and Industrial Museum. The sale opened with about 25,000 donated books available, and all proceeds benefit the Heritage Trust. (FLIPSIDE - CHRIS DUNN )
Books might have been usurped to some degree by iPads and Kindle Fires, but don't tell customers of the 12th annual Book Blast in York.

The fundraiser for the York County Heritage Trust continues to be super popular with the public, said Lila Fourhman-Shaull, director of library and archives for the organization.

"People of all ages love to read. And because of that we have many return visitors year after year," she said. "They support the event wholeheartedly, by donating books and then returning to buy books - hopefully not those that they had donated."

The three-day event will include books of all genres, from repair manuals to science fiction novels, Fourhman-Shaull said.

The books are sorted into various categories such as history, biography, fiction and cookbooks, she added.

Sample titles include "101 Things You Can Do With Chocolate," as well as a collection of media guides on the Baltimore Orioles, copies of local York County histories and school yearbooks.

The categories and number of books in each are dependent upon donations, Fourhman-Shaull said.

"This year we have a special section featuring colorful modern catalogues and brochures from the Pfaltzgraff Company as well as some of their production crates," she added.

The heritage trust also has picture frames that came with photographs donated to the library and archives.

Photographs are removed and placed into acid- free folders and the frames are added to the Book Blast.

Shoppers can take advantage of the buck-a-bag deal for the event's final day and stuff grocery bags with books for only $1.

The event has raised in the neighborhood of $10,000 for the heritage trust in recent years, Fourhman-Shaull said.

A history lover, she said it is one of her favorite annual events.

"I am a kid in a candy store; I love York County and its history," Fourhman-Shaull said. "For me it is a great time to connect with people and share the love of reading, with a historic twist."

If you go:

WHAT: York County Heritage Trust's 12th annual Book Blast

WHEN: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and Friday; 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: The Agricultural and Industrial Museum,

217 W. Princess St., York

COST: Free to attend. $2 hard covers, $1 paperbacks. Buck a bag offer on Saturday

DETAILS: Visit www.yorkheritage.org.