Whitney Knight/Pioneer
Engineering Club President Chris Camacho organizes books while a customer browses through the offerings for sale. The club held a book sale Wednesday, Nov. 16, to raise funds for club activities.

Ever wanted to know what steamy romance novels your professor reads in his or her spare time?

Students got a sneak peak into the leisure lives of their instructors Wednesday, Nov. 16, when OCCC’s Engineering Club hosted a book sale to raise activity funds.

Club President Chris Camacho said professors donated about 800 books for the sale, which was held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in front of the Communications Lab.

Titles like Robyn Carr’s “Moonlight Road” and inspirational novels about athlete and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong intermingled with books about statistics and human anatomy.

Camacho said the book sale offered customers a wide variety of books at a low price.

Paperbacks were sold for $1, and hardbacks for $2. Although the books were in great condition, Camacho said, prices were kept low so that more people could purchase them.

“I’d rather people read them than walk away without one because they didn’t want to buy a $100 book for $10,” he said.

The club deposited $256 as a result of the sale, and sold over 170 books. In years past, Camacho said, similar sales have raised as much as $600.

He said the money will go towards funding club activities like field trips and hands-on activities to help prepare engineering students for their careers.

Business major Kyle Ward, who spent $4 on two hefty physics textbooks, said the sale gave him an opportunity to learn about a new subject.

“I like to read, and I love physics, but it’s not my major,” Ward said.

With most hardback textbooks costing over $100 a pop, he said, purchasing the books from the sale allowed him to read up about a subject that interests him in his spare time — without breaking the bank.

Engineering club meetings are held at 12:30 p.m. every Thursday in room 1T1 in the Science, Engineering, and Math Center. Camacho said he encourages everyone to stop by — even if they aren’t engineering majors.

“Because there are no math or science clubs, we’ve kind of become an all-around club (for those subjects) by default,” he said.

For more information, visit http://occc.campusgroups.com/engineering.

To contact Whitney Knight, email onlineeditor@occc.edu.