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CUBBERLEY
USED BOOK SALES

Saturday,
June 10
10 am - 4 pm
Main Room opens at 11 am
 
Sunday,
June 11
1 pm - 4 pm

Featured topics for June:

Best Recent American Fiction
Black History
Computers • Gardening
George W. Bush
Golf
Literary Publications & Reviews
Military History
Naval History • Travel

And over 50,000 other items

4000 Middlefield Road
Palo Alto
Northwest corner of the Cubberley Community Center

Map
More information on the sales
Donate your old books

All proceeds go to help Palo Alto libraries.

Main Book Room Sale
In our main room, prices are way below what used book stores charge.  Paperbacks are 50 cents and up, and hardcovers are $1.00 and up.  Numbered tickets for the main room are given out beginning at 8 am on Saturday.  These reserve your place in the line that forms before the 11 am opening.  Each person may pick up one or two tickets.

Children's Books in K6
Room K6 in the K wing (see map) is entirely filled with children's books and toys.  You'll find picture books, school age fiction, award winners, non-English titles, and books for parents and teachers, many for under $1.  This room and the bargain room open at 10 am on Saturday.

Bargain Books in K7
Next door in K7 is the bargain room, where paperbacks are 50 cents, hardcovers are $1.00, and children's books are just 25 cents each.  Pay just half of that in the bargain room after 12:30 pm on Saturday and all day on Sunday.  On Sunday, you can also buy grocery bags in the bargain room for $5 and fill them with books.

 
$2.2 Billion of Used Books Sold
The U.S. used book market topped $2.2 billion in 2004, according to the Book Industry Study Group.  Their recently-released report cites the Internet as helping sell over 111 million used books in 2004.  Still, this represents only 8.4% of total consumer spending on books, suggesting there is considerable room for growth.
 
Library Closed
June 30 and July 4
Palo Alto's libraries will be closed on Friday, June 30 for staff training and on the following Tuesday for the July 4 holiday.  Even when the libraries are closed, you can still search the online catalog, submit reference desk questions, access many online resources, and get book recommendations.
 
Free Library Catalog Training
Free one-hour classes are again being held on how to use the library's online catalog, including how to search for books, place holds, and review your account.  The sessions are held every second week beginning with Wednesday, June 14 at 10 am at the Main Library.  You'll need just basic computer skills and to pre-enroll at 329-2436 (at prompt, please press 2), by email, or onlineMore information.
 
Non-Profit Book Giveaway
Non-profit organizations and schools that need free books should come to the Bargain Room this month from 4 to 6 pm on Sunday, June 11.  More information.

Suggestions?
We're always eager to hear your suggestions for ways to improve our book sale.  Please email them to us at suggestions@friendspaloaltolib.org or mention them to a volunteer at the sale.
Amazing Naval History Collection
We've received about four hundred books on naval history from the estate of an avid Palo Alto collector.  Although the volumes particular focus on 20th century ships and sea battles, there are titles on all eras, including early English naval fleets.  Biographies of admirals alone fill an entire shelf.  It's the "biggest thing I've ever seen in terms of the number and quality of the volumes," says Dick Grote, our volunteer in charge of Military History.  He's put all the Naval History books on the south wall of the Main Room, near the exit door.  Click here to see the Naval History shelves View these shelves.  Dick also notes that back in the regular Military History shelves on aisle 2C are a lot of recently-arrived military aviation and World War II books, particularly on Pearl Harbor and the war in the Pacific.
 
Peek at our Bookshelves
Click here to see some of the shelves at this weekend's sale
See some of the interesting books we've recently received and get a head start on this weekend's booksale by clicking here.
 
Best American Fiction in Last 25 Years
The New York Times Book Review recently asked several hundred writers, critics, and others to name the "single best work of American fiction published in the last 25 years."  The winner was Toni Morrison's Beloved, and runner-ups were Don DeLillo's Underworld, John Updike's four Rabbit Angstrom novels, and Phillip Roth's American Pastoral.  You'll find copies of these books and others that received multiple votes along with additional titles by the same authors in a special section on the west wall in the Main Room at this month's sale.  See the full New York Times list.
 
Council Helps Plan Next Library Ballot Measure
Major themes from four community meetings held in May
 

• Want a guarantee that branches won’t ever be closed

• Plan diminishes Newell, College Terrace and Forest Branches

• Plan should restore reference books to College Terrace and Forest

• Don’t change the Library names

• Plan sets up north-south conflict

• Mitchell Park needs (at least) a modest expansion

• Expand Main and Mitchell Park

• Expand Main instead of Mitchell Park

• Don’t move support staff to Mitchell Park

• Don’t reduce emphasis at Children’s Library to 3rd grade and younger (from 5th grade)

• Respect for work the LAC has done on draft plan


Source: Full Council presentation
On May 15, Palo Alto City Council members discussed the evolving draft library plan, a minority report, community input (see sidebar), and concerns from the public, especially about the cost and size of the project.  The Council decided to focus the proposal more on the upgrading of Mitchell Park Library and away from controversial aspects such as a substantial increase in operating hours and diminished scope of the four other libraries in the city.   According to the City Manager, the Council conceptually approved the following key concepts in the draft recommendations:
 

• Maintain all current library locations,

• Expand and/or improve access to services and collections and seek technological and other efficiencies, and

• Upgrade Mitchell Park library services from branch library resource levels without downgrading Main Library.

 
Further, the Council said that the City's general fund should not be expected to fund service level improvements or capital costs. Instead, additional funding will need to come from a parcel tax or other tax measure.
 
The Council also gave this guidance to the LAC:
 

• Determine methods to reduce library operating costs.

• Determine size requirements for Mitchell Park Library.

• Determine facilities growth requirements (if any) at other libraries.

• Explicitly describe service levels at Main/Newell and maintain service for adults, teens and children.

• Maintain collections for 4th and 5th graders at Children's Library.

• Identify strategies and funding for increasing collections.

• Provide more analysis of strategies related to City/School partnerships.

• Prepare preliminary cost models/projections/estimates for capital and staffing needs.

• Develop scaled versions of the recommendations, with costs.

• Outline consequences to the libraries if new funding is not approved.

 
The Council directed the LAC to return to the Council with the final report by September 11, 2006.  However, city staff indicate it may take more time to collect all of the necessary information about size and costs for the Mitchell Park Library.

See recent Palo Alto Weekly articles on the Council decision and north vs. south Palo Alto.

 
Incredible Online Resources
Palo Alto offers access to over 10,000 magazines and newspapers online for free, including Consumer Reports, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal.  This staggering collection includes many millions of articles from previous and often current issues, either as full-text or abstracts.  Not only are these articles fully searchable in just seconds, but you can access them at any hour from home, school, or office with your Palo Alto library card and avoid paying the typical online subscription fee that these publications charge. More information.
 
Here's a quick taste of how easily you can search Consumer Reports online for a product review:
1) Go to the library's Online Resources page and click on the top left entry entitled "General Reference Center".
2) Type in your library card number.
3) Type in the product name you are looking for in the top box and "Consumer Reports" in the bottommost box.  You may also want to select the option for searching the entire article contents.
4) Click on the Search button and select among the articles that come up.
 
For example, a search on "Prius" using the above steps takes you to an article comparing it with other like cars in the February 2006 issue, along with 82 other citations.
 
Jack Gill, 1921-2006
We wish to express our deep condolences to the family and friends of Jack Gill, who passed away in May.  Jack was an outstanding long-time loyal volunteer and the manager of our booksale Poetry section up through last month.  He was a scholar, a gentleman, and a friend.
 
Youth Summer Reading Programs
The library is holding two summer reading programs this year.  Children up through the fifth grade can join Paws, Claws, Scales and Tales by setting a goal for the number of books read or listened to during the summer.  Various branches will also host a series of Wacky Wednesday events for kids each week at 3:30 pm.
 
Sixth through twelfth graders can set their summer reading goal in the teen program called Creature Feature.
 
The signup period for both programs is June 15 through July 31.  Click on the appropriate program name above for information on how to enroll.  Upon reaching their reading goals, participants receive a certificate, a free paperback book, a coupon for a free pizza at Round Table, and other surprises.  Teens are eligible for a drawing for an Apple iPod Shuffle.  Prizes will be awarded August 1 through August 20.  These programs are sponsored by local merchants and the Friends of the Palo Alto Library.
 
Children's Library Project Underway
The west side of the Children's Library under reconstructionHere's a peek at the Children's Library as of this Monday, June 5.  The outer wall on the west side and the attached porch have been removed to prepare for the extension that will be built on this end.  A larger wing will be added on the other side.  The Magic Garden area is fenced off in the background.  The entire renovation and expansion of the library is expected to take two years to complete.
This notice comes to you from the non-profit organization Friends of the Palo Alto Library.  No trees were felled in the making of this e-mail.  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 1.9% for our 2004-2005 fiscal year.  In other words, about 98% of the money we raised went to help Palo Alto Library users.  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.