News from the Library, by E-mail and RSS

The Library would like you to know that this year's Summer Reading Program is under way, and you can read their latest newsletter here.

If you have ever given the Library your e-mail address, like this newsletter editor did when he signed up for a Palo Alto Library card, you have probably noticed that they are sending you one to a few e-mails per month since the start of the pandemic.

If you haven't been getting these e-mails, and are curious, there's an archive of them here. This archive page also has a "join our mailing list" link.

If you prefer this sort of thing in your RSS reader instead of your e-mail, you can get the RSS feed here. (This may open in your RSS reader instead of in your browser.)

The City may also be sending you "Uplift Local" e-mails once a week or so. There is an archive of those e-mails here.

And if like yr hmbl newsletter editor you have not been paying attention and are wondering what is open and how much the Library has a Current Library Services page.

 
June Sale Notes

June is FOPAL's busy donation time and FOPAL's members are benefiting with a Members' Early Sale. All FOPAL paid members can get in earlier than the normal 11am start time. Because of this the normal Main Room entry procedure is changed. See the section below pertaining to the Members' Early Sale. Summer is almost here, donations are up and we've got plenty of great reads, music and more! For FOPAL's June sale 2022, look for a unique special of High-Value items normally sold by our High-Value team on Amazon, EBay or at auction. Enjoy this rare opportunity to shop the High-Value inventory at the June's member's Early Sale as well as checking out a nice selection of books, DVDs, LPs, CDs and more carefully curated by FOPAL 60+ Section Managers! Main (Marty's) Room information notes, Audio Books may now be found in the FOPAL Bargain Room, Military History has some terrific Sets and Health received a generous donation of "new" Yoga books!

 
FOPAL Members Get the First Pick at Members' Early Sale

A super big fun FOPAL Members' Early Sale is scheduled for this Saturday. Twice a year, FOPAL holds a Members' Early Sale, at which members of the Friends of the Palo Alto Library are admitted early to the Main Room sale. Members enjoy a less crowded main book room and get the first crack at FOPAL's wonderful collection of materials!

Life & Sponsor Members Enter at 9am: At our Members' Early Sale, Life and Sponsor Members (and one spouse or guest) may enter at 9am and can purchase up to 100 books per membership only during that first hour. Each Life Member and Sponsor Member must give the one Purchase Slip per membership to the cashier before 10am in order to purchase up to 100 books. If a Life Member or Sponsor Member exits without purchasing all 100 books, he/she may take the Purchase Slip and reenter to fill out the 100 books as long as they are purchased by 10am.

Other Members Enter at 10am: Members at all other levels can enter the sale at 10am, and purchase 25 books at a time.

General Public Enter at 11am: At 11am, non-members are admitted. The usual limit on purchasing 12 books at a time lasts until there is no longer a line waiting to enter.

Ticket Handout Procedure: At the Members' Early Sale, tickets are given only to members of FOPAL. Look for two check-in/ticket lines; one line for renewing members, new members and those members without a membership card, and one line for members with their cards. To speed your way through the ticket line please find and bring your membership card! Tickets given out are for the 9am and 10am lines at the Main Room, since most people who come early are Members of FOPAL. Each Member will get just one ticket, although Life and Sponsor Members may bring one guest between 9 and 10am and Family Members may bring in their families, consisting of one other adult and minor children, beginning at 10am. No tickets will be given out for the 11am line.

Join FOPAL Now: If you're not already a paid-up member, avoid delay at the sale by joining online now.

 
High Value Special

"FOPAL considers most of our books priced at over $20 as high value and sells them online either through eBay or Amazon. For our Members' Early Sale we are going to make available 500 books from our high value reserve. The books will cover all of our usual category areas, including fiction and nonfiction, recent and old editions, hardbacks and paperbacks. This is an opportunity to see the books in person as a library and buy them without fees and without waiting. As an added Members' Early Sale bonus all of the books will be for sale at less than their online price.

"Look for the High Value Special Sale in the main aisle." -Nigel Jones

 
Fiction Boutique

"Dear Book Friends,

"Welcome back to a TEMPTING selection of recently published novels... both hardcover and paperback. Choose books for your family and friends, and for yourself, of course." -Marian Knox

"P.S. Don't forget your book club!"

 
Essays & Short Stories

"Avid readers of both short story and essay collections should be aware that we have a remarkable assortment of books in both categories. There is a strong representation of both hard and soft bound editions. Included are both contemporary authors, whose names will be familiar to readers and writers of importance in the history of literature. There is a goodly selection of works in translation. There are also many anthologies that will provide years of reading pleasure. It is also worth noting that we have works of interest that are collections of letters, works devoted to folklore and fairy tales. Last but not least there are literary journals that are worth taking a look at, especially considering their very modest cost." -Allan Fisch

 
Children's Room

"Once again, the Children's Room shelves are full of wonderful books, games, puzzles, and toys. Our World Languages section has multiple shelves of books in French, German, and Russian--and also books in Hindi, Bengali, Arabic, Urdu, Thai, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Tamil, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Dutch, Turkish, Polish, Danish, and Italian! Parenting has books of advice on parenting teens as well as toddlers. There's a good selection of DVDs including Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and many Disney classics. And our Beginning Readers shelves include books on science, history, and biography in addition to popular series (Mercy Watson, Dr. Seuss, etc.)--a great way to keep your kids reading over the summer. In School Age Fiction you'll find a complete paperback collection of Harry Potter (and four hardbacks of the rarely donated first book in the series, in addition to several copies of each of the other books); a paperback Tolkien collection with all of the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings books; three complete Narnia sets by C. S. Lewis; many recent American Girl books; and the popular Wonder and Wonder Stories books by R. J. Palacio. Look in the Activities sections for lots of graphic novels, puzzle and joke books, board games in nearly new condition, jigsaw puzzles, and workbooks in math and science that are perfect for summer reviewing. These are just a few of the highlights this month--come and browse in an uncrowded setting." -Carolyn Davidson

 
Science

"All shelves can be viewed at fopalbooks.com" -Edwin El-Kareh

 
Sheet Music

"All shelves can be viewed at fopalbooks.com" -Edwin El-Kareh

 
European Language

"We have about 20 French audiobooks on CD or MP3.

"We got a large donation of books in Polish (including many about the theater). There will be more next month, since our shelves could only hold about half of the Polish and Hebrew books we've received.

"Sincerely," -Susan Strain

 
Mysteries & Thrillers

"Mysteries has a section with paperback books of famous writers which are being offered for sale for $1.00. Pick some up to read when you are on the move this summer." -Cathy Swan

 
History

"The History section has received a very, very, very large donation of books on CHINA. The books range from contemporary China to ancient history.

"It includes a significant number of books on the transition to Communism and subsequent changes in China. It is truly a wonderful and broad ranging selection of books! The books are in the History section in a greatly expanded Asian area. Other areas of Asia have moved but are next to and across from our regular Asian History section. The Middle East and Central America have been moved to a red cart.

"We are also featuring a set of Will and Ariel Durant's The Story of Civilization in nearly pristine condition. It is by the far the best Durant set that the long time section manager has ever had in the History section. (And over the years there have been many).

"Of course, our other sections have lots of interesting books but this is a unique chance to read and understand more about China as it becomes more important and relevant to our lives in this complex world." -History Section Manager: Suzanne Little, Assistant Manager: Lin McAllister

 
Donations

We have made it past Drop-off Donations 3.0 and have returned to accepting donations without the need to make an appointment.

HOWEVER....

We are closed for donations from Sunday June 5 through Sunday June 12 to prepare the Main Room for this weekend's sale. Please hold your donations until Monday June 13.

Please read our donation guidelines before you bring materials to us.

All that said, our normal hours for drop-off donations are Monday through Saturday, 3pm-5pm. (But not the week before the sale.)

 
Suggestions?

We're always eager to hear your suggestions for ways to improve our book sale. Please email us at suggestions@friendspaloaltolib.org.