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The people at the Friends of the Suffolk Library bookstore on Carolina Road are grateful for Gary Williams, a longtime Suffolk resident and one of their dedicated volunteers.

Williams has been volunteering at the store for nearly five years. Williams said he’s done lots of volunteer work over the years, such as the American Cancer Society, because he likes to stay active.

At the Friends of the Suffolk Library store, Williams helps shelve books, answer customer questions and manage the store’s inventory of CDs, DVDS and vinyl records. He comes in to shelve books on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and he volunteers for the Saturday book sales each week.

He said he enjoys working with the other great volunteers at the store, and that he also likes getting to know the regular customers.

“I read a book about how to remember things, and I try to be very good at remembering people’s names, because that helps,” he said.

Williams worked in insurance for more than a decade, and he also used to tutor adults in reading with the Suffolk Literacy Council, back when the Council was based at Suffolk Christian Church on North Main Street. That led him to his current security job at Suffolk Christian Church.

Williams has been a member of Suffolk Presbyterian Church on North Broad Street since he was a teenager, but he’s gotten to know the “good folks” at Suffolk Christian Church well, he said, along with the members of the Suffolk community who come shop at FOSL.

“You get to know a lot of people, when you do things like this,” Williams said. “Somebody said, ‘Gary, how do you know these people,’ (and) I said, ‘well, I’ve been here all my life almost. You get to know everybody.’”

FOSL President Bob Cox described Williams as a “valuable” volunteer who helps make each Saturday book sale feel like a party.

“He does a huge amount of work quietly and steadily, and he’s a lot of fun,” Cox said. “He’s really humorous, with an entertaining personality that we regard a great deal.”

The Friends of the Suffolk Library bookstore is located at 300 Carolina Road. Sales are held Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information, visit facebook.com/FriendsoftheSuffolkLibrary or call 514-1024.