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Used Book
Sales
Read about us in the
San Jose
Mercury and
San Francisco Chronicle
articles
on Bay Area used book sales.
Keep track of changes in our hours and any upcoming special
sales through our
free online notices (100% spam-free).
See some of the 50,000+ books at this month's sale. We hold regular book sales at two locations in Palo Alto:
| Cubberley Community Center
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Downtown Library
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Second two-day weekend of each month
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Main Room
11 am to 4 pm
Bargain Books Sale in Room K7 (see special
pricing below)
10
am to 4 pm
Children's Books in Room K6
10 am to 4 pm
Sunday, May 11, 2008
1 pm to 4 pm - All rooms (Main, Children's, and Bargain)
4000 Middlefield Road
Palo Alto, CA
650 213-8755
Road map
We have over 50,000 wonderful used books, records,
videos, magazines, and more at our monthly sale. These
are mostly from donations from individuals, estates, and
companies. We also sell items that the Palo Alto
library has removed from their shelves to make room for new
purchases.
Our main book sale room is along the north driveway, adjacent to the
Charleston Shopping Center (see map below).
In this room, hardbound books start at $1 each and paperback books
at 50 cents each. Please bring your large book donations
to this room too.
Our children's books are in room K6, where
you'll find many under $1, including picture books, school
age fiction, award winners and books for parents and
teachers.
Bargain books are in room K7, where hardbound books are all $1, paperbacks
are 50 cents each,
and children's books are just 25 cents.
After 12:30 pm on Saturday and all day on Sunday, bargain room prices are
half-off. On Sunday, you can save even more by purchasing grocery bags
from us for $5 each and then filling these with books. Please note that the children's and bargain
book rooms open one hour earlier than the
main sale room on Saturday.
You can purchase gift certificates at the sale in $5
denominations.
Some customers come very early on Saturday to ensure an early place in line.
We hand out a maximum of two numbered tickets per person at the Main Room, beginning at 8 am on the Saturday of the sale.
If you receive a ticket, the number on it reserves
your corresponding place in the line, allowing you to go off
and get coffee or to visit the Children's and Bargain Book
rooms.
Please be sure to return to the Main Room a few minutes before it opens to reclaim your spot in the line.
If you don’t arrive in time to get a ticket, please
just join the latter part of the line.
New policy: Because of our severe space limitations and compelling issues of
health and safety, we will only allow 185 customers into the Main Room at a time.
On Saturdays, customers will be originally admitted in the order of
their numbered tickets that are given out from 8 to 11 am. Once inside,
customers may take only 12 books off of shelves, after which they
should purchase these and exit via the east door. They may then join at
the end of any remaining line at the north door and reenter in that order.
The limitation of 12 books at a time will continue past noon if a line remains
outside. |
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Ongoing during library hours
Tuesday,
Wednesday, Friday, Saturday
11 am to 6 pm
Thursday
noon to 7 pm
270 Forest Avenue
Palo Alto, CA
Road map
Eight shelves containing over 300 used fiction and non-fiction books are available for sale during the hours the library is open. The books are fairly recent editions in excellent condition.
Hardbound books are $1.00. Paperbacks are 50 cents each.
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Map of Cubberley Community
Center Book Sale Location
4000
Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, CA 94306
(650) 213-8755
Road
map
Here's a guide to books by aisle number in the Main Room
(printable version):
Our prices are incredibly low, as these examples illustrate:
Hearts in Atlantis
(paperback)
| List price: |
$7.99 |
new |
| BarnesandNoble.com |
$7.99 |
new |
| Amazon.com: |
$7.99 |
new |
| Border's (Palo Alto): |
$5.99 |
new |
| Know Knew Books (Palo Alto): |
$3.98 |
used |
| BookBuyers (Mountain View): |
$3.49 |
used |
| Our Cubberley bargain room price:
|
$0.50 |
used |
|
|
Beginning
ASP.NET
using VB.NET
| List price: |
$39.95 |
new |
| Border's (Palo Alto): |
$39.95 |
new |
| BarnesandNoble.com |
$31.99 |
new |
| Amazon.com: |
$27.50 |
used |
| ebay.com: |
$20.54 |
used |
| Our price at Cubberley: |
$2.00 |
used |
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You'll find these same low prices on all the other tens of thousands
of books that we have. While some booksellers may pledge a portion
of your purchase to help local libraries, we give 100%. Plus, we charge
no sales tax and we have
the friendliest sales people you'll ever find.
Free Newsletter About Book Sales
Keep informed about upcoming sales, changes of hours, and special sales via our free monthly
e-mail newsletter. We held nine special sales in a recent twelve-month
period, and the e-mail newsletter will keep you informed of each
of these. We adhere to a strict privacy policy and your e-mail
address will not be shared with any other organization and we will only use it
to send you this newsletter. Sign
up now. Back issues.
Book Sale Coordinator Open Position
We are seeking a Book Sale Coordinator to oversee the operations of our monthly book sales at Cubberley, which generate more than $200K annually to support programs and acquisitions in Palo Alto’s libraries. This person will be in charge of coordinating the activities of over 100 part-time volunteers in the many tasks involved in preparing and holding the sales. The time required is estimated to average 20 hours a week, with the most work in the days leading up to the sale dates. Applicants need to be able to work well with volunteers, customers, and book donors, and should have an abiding interest and affection for books.
Duties for this position include, but are not limited to:
 | Maintaining a cooperative and pleasant working atmosphere for all volunteers |
| Assisting in screening and assignment of people interested in helping the Book Sale program |
| Overseeing the reception, sorting, pricing, and display of as many as 20,000 donated books each month |
| Organizing training and supervise new volunteers |
| Dealing with facilities, equipment and supplies, business and publicity, and special personnel needs |
| Troubleshooting sale-related matters (such as adequate supplies of paperwork/forms/and adequate sale-day staffing) |
| Chairing Book Sale volunteers meetings and maintaining communications with
volunteers and our Board of Directors |
For more information, including a detailed job description, interested parties should contact the Search Committee by email at
search@friendspaloaltolib.org or by writing to FOPAL Search, PO Box 41, Palo Alto, 94302.
Annual Members-Early Sale
Once a year, we hold a members-early sale, at which members of the Friends of
the Palo Alto Library are admitted early to the Main Room sale. The 2007 members-early sale
was on November 10. Life
members and their spouses enter at 9 am and can purchase up to 50 books (per
membership) during that first hour.
At 10 am, the rest of our members are admitted and everyone can buy the usual 12
books at a time. At 11 am, the regular public is admitted. The 12
books at a time limit lasts only as long as there is a line waiting to enter..
The tickets given out at the
members-early sale are for the 10 am line, since most people who come early are
members of the Friends. Each member will get just one ticket, although
members at the $25 through $250 levels get to bring in their families. A
family consists of one or two adults, plus children.
Regular membership in the Friends
is only $15 ($10
for students and seniors, $25 for families) and is fully tax-deductible.
Members also receive a discount coupon for the sale, discounts at Books Inc.
in Town and Country Village,
and eligibility for the Stanford Federal Credit Union. If you're
not a member, avoid delay at this sale by joining
online
right now.
Free Books for Non-Profits and Public Agencies
For a number of years, the Friends of the Palo Alto Library have provided
free used books to non-profit organizations and public agencies. Eligible
organizations come right after the monthly sale closes on Sunday (from 4 pm to
6 pm) and select books from
among the thousands of books available in the bargain room. We have distributed vast numbers of
books to local hospitals, homeless programs, senior centers, schools, and jails, as well as to
libraries in rural areas and on reservations, and to literacy projects in
many other countries. For more information on eligibility, hours, and the
types of materials available, please contact Norma Burchard by
e-mail
or at (650) 494-1082.
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