Library News

National Library Week is April 19-25 and the San Francisco Giants are having a Library Day game with the Marlins on April 26. Tickets may be purchased via this link with $5 of each purchase to benefit the Palo Alto City Library. On the way to checkout is a question "Which Library are you supporting?" with a drop-down menu and the choice "Palo Alto City Library" is the one to benefit the Library.

April is National Poetry Month.

April is also Earth Month.

April is also Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) Heritage Month.

You can find out about these sorts of things in a slightly more timely manner from the Palo Alto City Library Blogs page. Or you can subscribe to them with an RSS reader.

You could find out about other things by subscribing to the Library's mailing list. Like us, they send one or two messages per month, more usually one.

There is also the Library's events calendar that has a lot besides when the Library is closed.

-Frank McConnell

 
Music Pop Up Sale

Due to forecasted rain the Monthly Music Pop Up Sale will not be held this weekend. There is still plenty of music to be found inside the Main Room and in the Bargain Room in building H2.

We apologize for the inconvenience but there is simply no other place to keep our LPs, CDs, and cassettes out of the rain.

Plan on visiting us again in May when we will have two months worth of new selections.

-George Chaltas

 
Tools

Good News! Tools are moving outside next to the Music Sale on Saturdays so we can spread out and you can buy starting at 10am.
Bad News! Outside sales are cancelled due to rain.
Good News! We will be back.
Bad News! Toolcan Sam R.I.P. 1931 - 2026

-Toolio

 
New Books

We have got over one hundred copies of You With the Sad Eyes by Christina Applegate. This is a number one New York Times Bestseller released just a few weeks ago. We are selling them for just $4.00 each. Why? Because we have lost our minds and we hate making money! ISBN 9780316594929

-Newt N. Newman

 
Politics

In tumultuous times you may ask yourself, "What should I do?" It's obvious. Go to the FOPAL book sale of course and specifically to the Politics section. Buy a couple books. Read something. Be the change that you wish to see in the world.

 
Home & Crafts

In Crafts we go from beads and mosaics, to paper craft with stamping and stenciling. There's a world of knitting: handknits, handbags, sweaters and more. You'll find beautiful books on flower arranging, including The Ways of Flowers: Enriching Our Homes, Our Fashions, Our Spirits. Don't miss The Basket Book: Over 30 Magnificent Baskets to Make and Enjoy. This month we have titles on friendship gifts and the art of gift wrapping. In addition to knitting, browse through other fabric arts including: sewing, quilting, embroidery, cross-stitch, and crochet.

Our Beauty shelf includes several titles on natural beauty plus fashion trends, including The Parisian Woman's Guide to Style. A new addition: Dressed to Kill by Virginia Bates and Daisy Bates. Our Home shelves are bursting with new titles for decorating and entertaining. Don't miss House Thinking: A Room-by-Room Look at How We Live, showcasing the emotional impact our homes have on our lives. You'll find several titles on organizing and storage, plus building, renovating, and repair. There are numerous kitchen and bath resources. America and international home design styles will give you inspiration for your latest project.

eShelf photos can be found at <https://fopalbooks.com/crafts.html>.

-Virginia Perry

 
Antiques & Collections

This month we have an eclectic group of jewelry, silver, and gem books: Imperial Surprises: A Pop-Up Book of Fabergé Masterpieces, Forks, Knives, and Spoons, and Oscar Heyman: The Jewelers' Jeweler, to name a few. For something completely different, try Pipe: The Art and Lore of a Great Tradition. In April it's all about the house. First, A Field Guide to American Houses; then several titles on the English home: The Perfect English Country House, Insiders' England, The Glory of the English House, and Life in the English Country Cottage. Discover these and other titles for your collecting reference.

eShelf photo can be found at <https://fopalbooks.com/crafts.html>.

-Virginia Perry

 
Children's Room

April is the coolest month, especially in the Children's Room where we are offering over 1,500 Pokemon cards! These include a big selection of circle, diamond, and star cards; trainers, energy cards, and some special editions like Halloween and Pokemon Go. We also have a great selection of Japanese Pokemon cards. The rarest cards will be sold "a la carte" on Saturday morning, while the other cards will be packaged for sale in small batches. To see photos of some of our Pokemon cards, click the link for the Children's Vintage section or the link for the FOPAL Special Sale Books section.

For the Beginning Readers in your life, you'll find LOTS of Mo Willem's Elephant and Piggy books and many inexpensive book sets. Look for fun DVDs for home viewing; and peruse our books for new parents, as well as parents of teenagers, and of kids with special issues.

Once again, our Activity section has loads of games and puzzles, including some with dinosaur themes. We're featuring a special selection of wooden toys, in addition to joke books, puzzle books, and graphic novels (including some boxed sets).

Visit our special sale table in Non-Fiction--there we have a nice collection of First Discovery books, perfect for ages 3 to 9 (and older, too); a large collection of Horrible books: Horrible Science, Horrible Geography, Horrible History; and a graphics collection of Science Comics.

In Fiction, check out our Fantasy section: We have two beautifully illustrated books--Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (originally $40, now $12) and The Tales of Beedle the Bard (originally $35, now $10). Please note that all Eoin Colfer books have been moved from the low bookcase to the far wall. We received a large donation of those books from Bell's Books, including two autographed first editions. The low bookcase is now dedicated to Erin Hunter's Warriors series. Lastly, check out Classics where we have a lovely illustrated reproduction of the 1924 edition of Raggedy Ann and Andy in The Camel with the Wrinkled Knees, by Johnny Gruelle, and a special annotated edition of Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales.

Our Picture Books include a variety of 5-Minute story books such as Winnie the Pooh, Daniel Tiger, and My Little Pony. You'll also find board books, pop-ups, and lift-the-flap books for the younger children. Note to teachers: We have a variety of titles in our Multiple Copies box, including The Story of Ferdinand.

Finally, April is National Poetry Month, so let’s celebrate! You'll find many poetry books (think Shel Silverstein and Mark Prelutsky) in the corner by the Snow White poster, and many good quality editions of Mother Goose rhymes in the rack by the door.

-Miriam Landesman

 
Children's Vintage

This month Children's Vintage is featuring some nice Nat Geo books for animal lovers of all ages. Whether you like sea creatures (The Mysterious Undersea World) or land animals (Zoos Without Cages) or something in-between (Secrets from the Past), we've got you covered. We've also got an absolute treasure trove of Landmark history books, all in very good dust jackets to add to your collection, or some matching editions in L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series. And finally, Wizard of Oz fans will absolutely want to snatch up Jack Pumpkinhead and the Sawhorse of Oz.

See photos of all these books at fopalbooks.com. Follow us on Instagram @friendsofthepaloaltolibrary.

-Lisa Heitman

 
Poetry

In April we will celebrate
The month of verse that we create:
The thirtieth anniversary
Of National Month of Poetry.
Women poets take the stage
Writing of both joy and rage,
While rhymers from most everywhere
Allow us to their wisdom share.

https://fopalbooks.com/poetry.html

-Mandy MacCalla

 
The West

This month in addition to the books on California, San Francisco and the Bay Area, Stanford and Palo Alto, we have received a large donation of books on the West. We have books on Cowboys and Cowgirls, Men and women ranchers, men and women desperados, as well as books on places in many of the western states. The shelves are quite full.

-Ed Walker

 
Sociology/Anthropology

The Sociology/Anthropology section features a collection of 530 titles. The books cover a wide range of topics, including social theory, race and inequality, cultural studies, and global history. Both classic works and contemporary publications are available. Many of the books come from respected academic publishers and are in good condition. Visitors will find works addressing urgent contemporary issues alongside foundational theoretical texts. As the following two examples show, browsing this section is an excellent opportunity to discover influential authors as well as lesser-known voices.

Jürgen Habermas's Legitimation Crisis is a major work in critical social theory. In this book, Habermas analyzes the structural tensions within advanced capitalist societies, particularly the relationship between economic systems and political legitimacy. He argues that modern states must continually justify their authority to citizens, especially in times of economic instability. A "legitimation crisis" occurs when governments fail to maintain public trust and support. Habermas links economic crises to broader political and social disruptions, showing how systemic problems can spread across different spheres of society. Drawing on and revising Marxist theory, he develops a sophisticated framework for understanding late capitalism. Its arguments remain highly relevant today in discussions of governance and inequality.

Racism and Migrant Labour by Robert Miles examines the relationship between racism and labor markets, focusing on how migrant workers are positioned within capitalist economies. Miles analyzes how racial ideologies are used to justify inequality and exploitation in the workplace. The text combines theoretical insight with concrete social analysis, making it both intellectually rigorous and socially relevant.

Shelf photos can be found at <https://fopalbooks.com/social.html>.

 
European Languages

European Languages received a lot of fiction in Spanish, and in French, among other things, some very nice cookbooks, and a thriller called Mamie Luger.

-Susan Strain

 
Judaica

Browse the Judaica section for books on the Jewish religion and culture including editions of the Torah and other basic texts, Kabbalah, Jewish history, the Holocaust, memoirs, Israel, Jewish Women, the Jewish American Experience and other related subjects.

Special this month -

• Master of Dreams : a memoir of Isaac Bashevis Singer
• The Golden Age of Jewish Achievement
• Last Days in Babylon: The History of a Family, The Story of a Nation
• Jerusalem Diaries: In Tense Times
• Treasures of Jewish Art: From the Jacobo and Asea Furman Collection of Judaica
• Jews and Medicine - Religion, Culture, Science
• Vagabond stars: a World History of Yiddish theater
• Antisemitism in America by Chuck Schumer

Most fiction with Jewish themes will be found in Modern Literature/Classics or Current Fiction. Books entirely in Hebrew are shelved in the European Languages section.

Shelf photos at https://fopalbooks.com/judaica.html

-Charlotte Epstein, Judaica Section Manager

 
Nature

In a world where data centers represent an existential and environmental threat to our planet, support the original analog data center - the library. At the Nature section this month, we're brimming with books about local California nature, and with the weather getting warmer, there's never a better time to go to the beach than now. Read up about coastal foraging, whales and seals in the Oceanography subsection. Or How to Read a Tree in the Trees section. Or learn more about wicked insects in the Insects category. Whatever book you choose, you're choosing the greener option and supporting local community at FOPAL.

-Serena Bramble

 
Self Help/Personal Growth

Spring is a time for plant growth -- Want some nurturing for your Personal Growth? Stop by and peruse all 4 bays in my section. Featured books this month are: The Listening Book; The Mind; Illuminated; Shift; and The Nervous System Reset. There are 5 full shelves of 'Popular on Amazon' books that I separate out to pique your interest. Check out the 9 'Great Courses' sets on different psychology subjects; especially good for audio learners. Also of note, is a pop up section for Non Violent Communication-a classic and still very popular set of life changing tools for Healthy Relationships. There are 3 copies of the main book along with a Workbook and 'Living Non Violent Communication'. As usual, I've put some books into subsections for your convenience. Enjoy your browsing,

-Marnie

 
Curious Books

Curious Books now has dedicated shelving for books of diminutive dimensions. Our variety of small books has expanded to include nature guides, drama, and a diverse selection of works published in a small format, as well as the usual array of gems and misfits.

-Donya W.

 
Bargain Room

Another month where Music is a shining beacon on the hill. Tons of CDs, Vinyl and Sheet Music this month. Computers, Cooking, History, Psychology and Self Help are all well represented. Greeting Cards? Got em! Tons of Magazines and Maps? Got em!

-The Boogie Woogie Frugal Boy From Company B

 
Donations

We accept donations on Monday through Friday from 3-5 pm in the Main Room, and on Saturday with extended hours from 1-5 pm. But we close to donations in the week before the sale so that we can prepare the Main Room for the sale, which means that we are closed for donations from Sunday April 5 through Sunday April 12. Please hold your donations until Monday April 13.

Please read our donation guidelines before you bring materials to us. Also look at that page if you need to bring us a donation larger than six boxes or outside our usual donation times, it has information on scheduling appointments and requesting a pickup.

In addition to books, vinyl, DVDs, CDs, toys, etc. We now accept the following types of donations:

• Cameras
• Tools
• Watches
• Clocks
• Typewriters

See our full list of accepted donations at fopal.org/donate.

 
Suggestions?

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