Saturday
December 8
10 am - 4 pm
Main Room opens at 11 am

Sunday
December 9
1 pm - 4 pm

Featured topics for December:

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 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, and children's books are just 25 cents each.  The room also contains many LP records and 78s at $1 each.  All items are half off 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.

Look for great gift ideas throughout all three rooms at this weekend's sale.  The home and craft section in the Main Room has a "Good Enough to Give as Gifts" section, plus a special shelf of books on "Preparing for the Holidays."  You'll also find Christmas Cooking and Christmas fiction collections in the Main Room.  We absolutely promise not to tell your gift recipients how little you paid at our sale!  If you're not sure which books would make the perfect present for someone, ask our cashiers for gift certificates, which are $5 each.

Check out right now some of the tens of thousands of books being readied for this weekend's sale by viewing our shelf preview pictures.  Please note as always that some books may be moved between the time we take the pictures and when the sale opens.

Thanks to our numerous volunteers, we've kept our fundraising, management, and general expenses to well under 1% for the second year in a row.  By striving to be super-efficient with every donation and dollar we receive, we assure that the generosity of members and donors maximally help library users.  We invite you to make a year-end contribution to help us sponsor adult and children's programs at all five branches of the Palo Alto Library, purchase additional books, DVDs, audio books, and more for the collection, and help in many other ways.  Donations are tax-deductible and can be made online via Network for Good or by mail to Friends of the Palo Alto Library, PO Box 41, Palo Alto, CA 94302.

Whenever you're in downtown Palo Alto, perhaps shopping for books, be sure to stop in at the Downtown Library on 270 Forest Avenue and see our other booksale, which features popular hardback fiction and the same great low prices.  You can buy books there whenever the library is open.  While our sale there has fewer books, it also has no crowds!

Palo Alto libraries will be closed on Christmas and the two days preceding it, and also on New Years Day.  Libraries will close early on News Years Eve as well.  The College Terrace and Downtown branches will be closed additional days, as this schedule shows:
 

 
The holiday closures means you can keep items for longer, as they aren't due back until the branch you checked them out at reopens.  For example, a DVD checked out on December 17 at the College Terrace Branch would normally be due on December 24, but you can keep it until December 29 when that branch is open again.
 
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.