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CUBBERLEY
USED BOOK SALES

Saturday
October 11

9 am - 2 pm
Bargain Book Sale

Our new bargain book sale room at Cubberley is a big hit.  In fact, we have so many bargain books that the sale spills out into the covered walkways near the room.  See the map for the exact location.  All bargain paperbacks are just 50 cents each and all hardcovers are $1.00. 

2 pm - 4 pm
Bargain Room $5 a Bag Sale

After 2 pm, all bargain book books are sold by the bag.  You can fill as many grocery bags as you want at $5 each.  We supply the grocery bags.

11 am - 4 pm
Regular Sale

You'll find about 40,000 books in our regular book room, with prices way below what used book stores charge.  Paperbacks are 50 cents and up, and hardcovers are $1.00 and up.  Featured sales books for October include: 

Brand new books from a local bookstore
Books on tape * CDs
Children's Chinese Books
Collectible Children's Books
Fiction * Graphic Arts * Humor
India, the Orient, and the Middle East
Modern Plays * Mysteries
Shakespeare
Sheet Music * Songbooks
Videotapes and a few DVDs
And much, much more!

4000 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto
Near the northwest end of the Cubberley Community Center

Room location

More information on the sales
Donate your old books

All proceeds go to help Palo Alto libraries.

There will be no Terman sale on this date.


Library Closed on October 13

Palo Alto libraries will be closed on Monday, October 13 for the Columbus Day holiday.


Vote on Silicon Valley Reads Finalists

You can vote later this month online or at any Palo Alto library for the book you'd like the community to read next year in the Silicon Valley Reads program.  From over 1,400 nominations submitted in August and September, the three finalists are Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, Isabel Allende's The Daughter of Fortune, and Yann Martel's The Life of Pi.  The winner will be announced in November and book discussions on it will commence in February 2004.  Over 300,000 people in the Santa Clara County area participated in the previous Silicon Valley Reads program.

Mini Booksale and da Vinci Talk on October 30

A mini-booksale with refreshments at 7 pm will mark the start of our annual meeting on October 30, at the Palo Alto Art Center at 1313 Newell Road.  At 7:30 pm, physician Fernando Vescia will speak about the artist/scientist/inventor Leonardo da Vinci in a talk entitled "In Search of Leonardo."  Dr. Vescia is a former Stanford lecturer on the history of medicine and his previous talk to our group about the Alexandrian Library was very much enjoyed.  The event is free to the public.  Members of the Friends of the Palo Alto Library may also participate at this meeting in the election of board members and officers and in ratifying our updated bylaws.


Council Candidates' Views on Library Issues

Palo Alto libraries have been very much in the news lately, given the recent proposals to close the Downtown Library (see item below) and float a new bond measure.  We polled all ten City Council candidates for the upcoming November 4 City Council election for their views on library issues, which are summarized here.  Please read the full responses, which provide interesting and detailed insights as to how our libraries might evolve.

Candidate

Downtown Library

How to Help Libraries

Ronny Bar-Gadda Opposes closure Increase library budget
Bern Beecham Opposes closure Supported hiring new director
LaDoris Cordell Opposes closure Look for budget savings elsewhere
John Fredrich Opposes closure Have libraries be a priority item
Victor Frost Opposes closure Remodel and extend downtown library
Skip Justman Opposes closure Pare planning department to fund library services
Judy Kleinberg Opposes closure Hire visionary director; initiate new bond measure  
Nancy Lytle Opposes closure Shift funding towards library improvements
Dena Mossar Opposes closure Build one new resource library at Mitchell Park
Ed Power

- no response -


Gift Certificates Now Available at Booksale

With the holiday season only about ten weeks away, consider giving gift certificates to our booksale as your presents this year.  The certificates come in denominations of $5 each and are available from our booksale cashiers.  With more than 40,000 books available at Cubberley, a gift certificate represents a whole world of exciting reading and adventure. 


Booksale Has Wheels

You'll always find some some unusual donated items at our "book" sale, such as puppets, cookware, and computers.  But this month has the most exotic ever: a Suzuki lightweight K15 motorcycle.  This is a genuine collector's item, built around 1967-1968, with an engine capacity of 79cc.  It weighs 75kg and needs some work.  Bid on the cycle at a silent auction from 9 am to 4 pm at this month's sale.  The proceeds will benefit the Children's Library Fund.  Perhaps it's a great way to zip around town when you're rushing to get to a library before closing time.


Children's Library Fund Making Great Progress

With September's fundraising kickoff party behind it (see pictures), the Children's Library Repair and Expansion project is now busily raising the funds it needs to begin the repairs and expansion of the Children's Library.  Already, the project has received over $1.8 million in donations and pledges of matching funds.  Please help the project qualify for all the matching funds by making your donation now as well.  For just $250, your can have a brick inscribed that will be placed into a wall in the Secret Garden behind the library.  More about this and other donation and naming opportunities.


Downtown Library Safe for Now

Overwhelming support for the Downtown Library, including vows to keep it open from six of the nine City Council members, suggest the branch will not be closing in the foreseeable future.  See recent San Jose Mercury and Palo Alto Weekly articles and even a pro-Downtown library person among today's Palo Alto Weekly street interviews.  Our thanks to the neighborhood associations and numerous individuals who worked with the Friends of the Palo Alto Library to help town officials understand why the closure would have harmed rather than helped the city.


Katy Obringer Retires
As noted in our recent Foreword edition, Katy Obringer has retired after serving as Palo Alto's head children's librarian for 21 years.  Katy has been extremely helpful in the effort to expand and repair the Children's Library, as well as serving an entire generation of Palo Alto children.  In Katy's honor, the Friends of the Palo Alto Library and city library staff have made contributions to the Children's Library Fund.  Other information about Katy's retirement.  There will be a reception for Katy later this fall as well.

This notice comes to you from the non-profit organization Friends of the Palo Alto Library.  While the Better Business Bureau recommends that no more than 35% of a charitable organization's expenses be for management and fundraising expenses, ours were only 2.4% for our 2002-2003 fiscal year.  In other words, about 98% of the money we raised went to help the Palo Alto libraries.  Visit our web site.  Become a member by joining online.

Be sure to receive your own free copy of this e-mail notice so that you'll know about all special upcoming books sales.  To sign up, just e-mail us.  We carefully protect the privacy of your e-mail address.  We will not share your e-mail address with any other organization and we will not use it for any purpose other than to send you these notices.  If you do not wish to receive these e-mail notices in the future, please reply with the words "Remove Me" in the subject line.