Friends of the Palo Alto Library Visit our web site 
 
CUBBERLEY
USED BOOK SALES

Saturday March 10
Ephemera 8am - 4pm
Better Book Bonanza 9am - 4pm
Bargain and Children's Rooms 10am - 4pm
Main Room Sale 11am - 4pm
Tent Sale 9am - 4pm
*WEATHER PERMITTING*

Sunday March 11
Better Book Bonanza SATURDAY ONLY
All Other Rooms 11am - 4pm


FEATURED IN MARCH 

Better Book Bonanza
Religion
Nature & Animals
Mysteries & Thrillers
Travel & Travel Guides
Business Management


 

4000 Middlefield Road
Palo Alto
NE corner of the Cubberley Community Center
(650) 213-8755

www.friendspaloaltolib.org

Map
More information on the sales
Donate your old books
 
ALL PROCEEDS GO TO HELP PALO ALTO LIBRARIES

Marty's (Main) Room
In our Main Room, prices are way below what used book stores charge. Hardcover books start at $1.00 and softcover books start at only 50 cents.

Due to the popularity of our sale and the fact that we can only have 160 customers in the room at any time a numbered ticket system (Main Room only) is in place and numbers are given out beginning at 8am on Saturday. Be sure to be in line in order of your number before the 11am opening. If you miss the time when your number is allowed to enter the Main Room you will forfeit your place in line. NOTE: If you plan on arriving to the sale after 11am you do NOT need to get a number.

Please note that due to crowding during the first two hours of the Book Sale, no strollers, rolling carts, etc. can be brought into the Main Room. This is for the safety of shoppers and volunteers alike. By 12:30 or so, the crowd thins out and shoppers are welcome to bring these items into the sale.

Children's Book Sale
The Children's Room has moved to the portable formerly occupied by the Jewish Community Center next to the soccer field. It is entirely filled with children's books and toys. You'll find picture books, school age fiction and non-fiction, award winners, non-English titles, CDs and DVDs, and books for parents and teachers, most for 50 cents or $1. Strollers are welcome in the Children's Room at any time.

Bargain Books in K-7
The Bargain Room is located in Rooms K-7 and K-6 of the Cubberley main campus, right next to the tennis courts. On Saturday, Paperbacks are 50 cents, hardcovers are $1, and children's books are just 25 cents each. The room also contains many LP records and 78s at $1 each. On Sunday, the room opens at 11 am and all prices are half off. Or, save even more on Sunday by buying grocery bags from us for $5 each and stuffing them with any items in the room. Buy 4 bags and get the 5th one FREE!

 
Non-Profit Book Giveaway
One of the unique features of FOPAL Book Sales is that when the sale ends on Sunday, we allow Schools, Teachers, and other Non-Profit organizations to come to the Bargain Room between the hours of 4pm and 6pm and take whatever is left for FREE. Registration is simple and easy can be done on-site at the sale if you have a copy of your school or teacher ID, copy of your IRS non-profit status designation, or any other document to prove your non-profit status. Please bring your own bags and boxes. See the FOPAL web site for more information or email info@friendspaloaltolib.org or call (650) 213-8755.

Suggestions?
We're always eager to hear your suggestions for ways to improve our book sale. Please email us at suggestions@friendspaloaltolib.org or mention them to a volunteer at the sale.

Spring Forward This Sale Weekend

Daylight Saving Time begins this Sunday, which means you'll want to be sure to move your clock forward by one hour on Saturday night. Otherwise, you'll arrive at our Sunday sale an hour late! Incidentally, the correct term is daylight saving time, not daylight savings time. If you had it wrong, don't feel bad. More people Google the incorrect phrase than the correct one!

 
Better Book Bonanza

The Better Book Bonanza features collectible and rare books, in all genres including children's books, as well as collectible ephemera and collectible vinyl. These items will be sold online after the sale, but at the BBB we offer them to our walk-in customers first at 25%-33% off the online price.

Special items in this month's BBB include a large collection of "Jane's All the World's Aircraft" and "Jane's All the World's Fighting Ships". We have a complete run from the early 1990's to the most recent editions, plus selected older volumes, all at deeply discounted prices. Buy one for yourself, or buy one to resell.

We also have a second edition, second printing of "The Wizard of Oz", and the last edition to include not only the color plates but also Denslow's detailed two-color full-page illustrations.

But wait, not everything is expensive! We also offer just plain curious books ("The Complete Guide to Surfboard Repair"?), better but affordable children's books, and lots of interesting inexpensive records. This month we also have walls and walls of framed art at bargain prices.

The BBB will be open from 9AM-4PM on Saturday only, in the same building as the Children's Room, using the ramp and entrance to the right of the building. There is a separate line for the BBB, no ticket is required.

For the convenience of our customers we provide a list of the BBB inventory which can be downloaded from the links below. Note that there may be a few late additions to the sale that may not be on the list.

BBB Inventory List (PDF)
BBB Inventory List (HTML)

 
Huge Collection of Religious Books
We received a large donation of books on religion, most related to Roman Catholicism. The majority is in English but there are many in French and some in Latin, German, Italian and Spanish. You'll find these items for sale in the Main Room and the Bargain Room. We would appreciate it if you would let those you think might be interested in these books know about our sale. The donation is large enough that we will be processing more books next month and perhaps also in May.

 
Preview Our Shelves

Click here to see some of the shelves at this weekend's sale Check out some of the thousands of books that will be on sale this weekend using our shelf preview pictures.

 
Framed Prints and Photos For Sale
We have more of the wonderful art donation available this month. You'll find a wide variety of large prints and posters (Folk Art, French posters, botanical prints, impressionistic floral still life, to name a few) as well as some photographs - most framed and all for great prices. You'll find these items for sale in the Better Book Bonanza, and at the Ephemera sale.
 
Missing the March Sale
If you cannot attend the March book sale, please drop by the Friends Bookstore located inside the Downtown Library and open during library hours. It is restocked regularly with a unique selection of books for all ages and interests.
 
FOPAL Volunteer Recruiting Drive
We are looking for book-loving, community minded folks to work with us. Think about volunteering a few hours a month. We are especially in need of volunteers to help out at our monthly book sales, held on the 2nd weekend of every month. You don't have to be available every month and shifts run 1.5 to 2.5 hours long. We also can use sorters who can put in an hour or two on Fridays and Saturdays. Students needing to fulfill community service hours requirements for school can help us as well. Call (650) 213-8755 and leave your contact info or email volunteer@friendspaloaltolib.org for more information.
 
FOPAL Book Sale Notices Now on Twitter
You can now follow us on Twitter @fopalbooks. We'll post Sale notices and will reveal the Sunday 50% off section via our Twitter feed.
 
Bring Your Donations!
Donations are accepted in the Main Room during our normal hours of 2pm - 4pm Monday through Saturday. Use the door on the right side of the building, next to the fire lane. If you need to bring books to us outside of those hours just call (650) 213-8755 and see if anyone is working in the book room and can accept your donation. We also accept donations during the Book Sale hours as well. Book and media donations can also be dropped off at the Mitchell Park and Main Libraries (limit of one bag or box per day, please). Note that the new College Terrace Library does not have the space to store donations so they ask that you please do not drop donations off there. Pickups can be arranged for large donations or if you are physically unable to bring your books to us. Please email donations@friendspaloaltolib.org or call (650) 213-8755 for more information or to leave a message after hours.
 
Special Handling for Special Donations
Got an unusual donation? If there are things you'd like to donate to us that are rare, fragile or unusual and require special attention contact donations@friendspaloaltolib.org or call (650) 213-8755 and leave a message for Jerry Stone.
 
Recycle Your Used Packing Materials At FOPAL
Looking for a place to recycle those packing materials? FOPAL can use them! As our online sales have grown we would be happy to accept your used bubble mailers, small boxes (small size Amazon boxes are great!), bubble wrap, packing peanuts, and those bags of air and we'll reuse them. We cannot use very large boxes or styrofoam blocks.
 
Think Ecologically! - Bring or Donate Your Own Bags
Due to the increasing reuse of grocery and other bags, we tend to run short at our sales and encourage you to bring your own cloth tote or paper bags to the sale. If you have any extra grocery or department store bags in good condition please bring them for your purchases at the sale. We would also gladly accept any extra bags you wish to donate.
 
Support Palo Alto's Libraries While You Shop
By shopping at Kepler's Books in Menlo Park a percentage of your purchase price can help the Palo Alto Libraries at no cost to you. At Kepler's, just mention to the cashier that you want to support the Friends of the Palo Alto Library.
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 under 1% for our 2007-2008 fiscal year. In other words, over 99% 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.