OLD CENTAL YEARBOOKS BEING SOLD BY SCHOOL

School librarian Julia Jorgensen wants to share some once-in-a-lifetime memories with graduates of Central High School.

Jorgensen, who is completing her first year as librarian, wants to make room on her shelves for books about regional history or by regional authors. To do so she is selling old copies of The Girardot, the high school's annual yearbook.

The books cost $10 each and will be available until all are sold. Also available are a limited number of the Sagamore, the annual yearbook of Southeast Missouri State University.

All yearbook sale proceeds will be used to purchase new books for the library.

"We're cleaning house just like everybody does in the summer, and we realized we have a real deficit in this library about our region," said Jorgensen. "We knew we had all of these leftover yearbooks, and I was thinking if we sold them we could go and buy those regional books."

Jorgensen said the price is much lower than the going price for new high school annuals, which sell for about $25.

The price was set low intentionally to keep them affordable to interested buyers or genealogists.

"It's not our intent to make a killing on this," she said. "We want these books to go to people who want them and will cherish them. This could be really important for somebody who is looking for a picture of a grandfather because they don't have one, or to someone who lost their yearbook in a fire.

"We really hope we can make people happy."

A good selection of yearbooks is available, although quantities may be limited and some may be more worn than others.

There are 60 books available from 1993, by far the most of any year. Some 20 copies of the 1984 edition of The Girardot also are in perfect condition because they were never removed from their cases.

However, there is only one copy of the 1921 yearbook, which is fairly worn because it was made entirely of paper.

No copies are available of editions from the following years: 1913, 1914, 1917-25, 1929-34, 1936, 1942-45, 1950, 1959-60, 1964, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1974, 1992, and 1997-98.

"It's hard to tell what exactly we have, so people would just need to stop by and see what we have available," Jorgensen said.

Interested buyers may visit the school library from 9 a.m. to noon Monday or Tuesday throughout the summer.

Remaining books will be sold during the school day after school begins in the fall.