Saturday
February 14

9 am - 12:30 pm
Bargain Room Sale
Be sure to check out the latest books here, with some incredible bargains.  All children's books are just 25 cents each, paperbacks are 50 cents, and hardcovers are $1.00.  See the map for the exact location of the room.

11 am - 4 pm
Regular Sale
You'll find books on every topic in the world among the 40,000 items 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 February include:

12:30 pm - 2 pm
Bargain Room Half Price Sale
During the middle of the day, all books in room E5 are half-priced.  Be sure to come over after you visit the regular sale.

2 pm - 4 pm
Bargain Room $5 a Bag Sale
After 2 pm, all books in E5 are sold by the bag.  You can fill as many grocery bags as you want at $5 each.  We supply the grocery bags.

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

Room location

All proceeds go to help Palo Alto libraries.

After two months of great success, we're happy to announce that the tickets to reserve places in line for early arrivers are now permanent.   If you arrive before 10:45 am at our main sale room, be sure to get a numbered ticket at the door.  We start handing these out at 8 am.  With your ticket, you can then go off to our bargain room or to relax, but please return by 10:45 am to claim your spot in the line.  If you arrive after 10:45 am, you don't need a ticket, and you can just join the regular line.  By the way, the line moves very quickly, so you'll find plenty of books to buy whether you come early or not.

We are planning to expand our booksale into two rooms in the Cubberley Community Center K wing in time for the March sale.  We'll still have the main sale room as well, but we'll be moving out of the E5 bargain room, which is further away.  This will give us a total of 5,300 square feet of space at Cubberley, all within an easy walk.  We'll give you more details about the hours, location, and organization for the new rooms in our next newsletter and on our web site.

You can also just drop off your own card at your local library or send one by mail (click here for library addresses).

The mayor's proclamation also asks people to support the libraries by becoming a member of the Friends of the Palo Alto Library.  You can join online right now or by using the forms available at all libraries.

Paula Simpson, currently the Library Director of the Monterey Public Library, has been nominated to become Palo Alto's new Library Director, a position vacant since Mary Jo Levy retired in 2002.  If the City Council votes in early March to appoint Paula, she could begin to serve as early as March 22.  Paula earned a master's degree in library science from the University of Minnesota and has worked in libraries in Oregon, Indiana and Illinois.  We're all looking forward to meeting Paula and welcoming her to Palo Alto.  See city press release.

Peter Milward, a booksale volunteer for several years, died unexpectedly on December 21 of last year at the age of 82.  Peter's wife and fellow volunteer Marion MacGillivray recalls that Peter thoroughly enjoyed his work at the Friends of the Palo Alto Library sales.  In recent months, he was a cashier at the bargain room, usually in the morning, but sometimes in the afternoon.  We will all miss him enormously, and extend our sympathies to his family and friends.

Recent federal legislation signed into law on January 23 provides $100,000 for renovations and restoration of the Palo Alto Children’s Library.  Last year, Congress awarded $90,000 in funds to the project.  The design for the renovated and expanded library will commence in the next few months, with construction anticipated to begin in early 2005.  See Palo Alto City Government Press Release and more about the Children's Library project.

Our booksales not only distribute books at low prices to our customers while raising funds for the libraries, but we also supply many books to those who cannot afford to buy them.  We do this through non-profit agencies that target disadvantaged populations.  One such organization is the Urban Ministry, which provides the local poor and homeless population not only with free food, but with free books as well.

Each month, Friends of the Palo Alto Library volunteer Marian Knox takes unsold books from our E5 bargain room over to a shelf at the downtown Urban Ministry Food Closet, where she volunteers as well.  The Food Closet provides free resources to about 75 people each weekday, and the paperbacks are very popular items.  Shirley Reiter, who has worked at the Urban Ministry for over seven years, estimates that the program gives away over 5,000 books each year. 

The most highly-prized books include thrillers and romance novels.  Food Closet patron Robin Collins says she enjoys reading the classics, such as Shakespeare, Twain, Dickens, Woolf, and Fitzgerald.  Patron Malcolm Hammons says he likes mysteries and suspense novels, including Poe and Stephen King.

Reiter points out that homeless people have a lot of time on their hands while waiting for meals and shelters.  Books from the Friends of the Palo Alto Library help fill that time and provide enjoyment as well.

This week, the Palo Alto City Council appointed three new members to the seven-seat Library Advisory Commission, which advises the Council on library matters.  The new commissioners are Sanford Forte, a director and founder of non-profits involved in community networking and education, Genevieve Gerard, a high-tech marketing manager and consultant, and John Stucky, the librarian of the San Francisco Asian Art Museum since 1994.  We look forward to working with them.  The new commissioners will serve for three-year terms and replace three others who chose not to reapply for the positions.