ONLINE BOOKSELLERS HAUNT LIBRARY SALES FOR NEW MERCHANDISE.

Byline: Alex Dobuzinskis Staff Writer

A new kind of book buyer is roving the aisles at local library sales, looking to turn a profit by snapping up used books at cheap prices and selling them online.

After picking up a paperback for a quarter or a hardback for a buck, buyers are finding they can fetch a few dollars - or even several hundred - by selling the same tome online through sites including amazon.com and eBay.

But while the bustling online trade has hurt sales at traditional used book stores - and may even be taking some of the best volumes off library book sales before most of the public gets access - most online sellers say the business is far from lucrative.

``It's a living, but you don't make money on it,'' said Dave Roberts, 41, of Sherman Oaks, who sells books online full-time.

Some online sellers do it in their spare time to supplement income from their full-time jobs, or simply to add to their own collections with the books they do not sell.

``It's treasure hunting. Because you never know when you're going to find a signed Ernest Hemingway or a signed F. Scott Fitzgerald or a signed Marilyn Monroe, and they're out there,'' said Roberts, who estimates he goes to about 100 sales a year.

Roberts was among first-day buyers at Burbank Central Library's recent sale, when only those who have paid $10 to be a member of the Friends of the Burbank Library were admitted. But that was no problem for Roberts, who is a member of that organization - and 40 other library organizations.

Roberts said that in recent years he has bumped into more online book sellers at library sales.

Donna Antrim, president of the Friends of the Granada Hills Library, said 15 percent to 20 percent of customers at her organization's sales are dealers picking up editions bound for online catalogs or bookstore shelves.

``A lot of times, if they're first into the book sales, they shop around and the people who come later don't get much of a selection. But you can't do anything about that,'' Antrim said.

Owners of used book stores say they also have noticed more online book sellers, and have watched as customers' buying habits have changed.

``It's changed because everybody with six books is now a dealer on the Internet. That's just the way it is, so a lot of little stores have gone out of business,'' said Steve Edrington, who owns two used book stores in downtown Burbank, Book Castle's Movie World and Best Seller Book Shop.

The change is also noticeable to Dave Dutton, who for 44 years has discussed books and ideas at his Dutton's Fine Books and Prints in Valley Village.

``I think you have to work just a little bit harder to stay even with the sales than a decade or so ago, and I'm sure that much of it is due to online book selling,'' Dutton said.

Dutton's son Dirk has been pressing him to sell online as well as in the store, and the family may start doing that. But for Dutton, 68, staring at computer screens will never compare with a day at the book store.

``I think there'll always be people who like the retail environment, who enjoy the ebb and flow, give and take of conversation that a bookstore generates,'' Dutton said. ``That's been one of the pleasures of being a book seller over the years.''

Alex Dobuzinskis, [phone]

alex.dobuzinskis(at)dailynews.com

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Book buyers and sellers scramble to find books to sell in used book stores and online.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News