The College Terrace Library will close, effective Monday, July 13, 2009, to renovate the historic building that houses the library and a child care center. Construction is estimated to take one year to complete. The City-funded Capital Improvement Project will upgrade the building's mechanical, electrical and seismic systems, add air conditioning, and make improvements to building accessibility.

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.

Non-profit organizations and schools that need FREE books should come to the Bargain Room this month from 4 to 6 pm on Sunday, July 12.  Please bring your own grocery bags to put books into.  More information.

July Sale Highlights

Large number of donations continue to flow into the Book Room keeping the sorters busy all month. The Classics and Modern Literature section was the beneficiary of a high volume of donations this month. Lots of variety and great quality stuff...More of the fabulous CD collection will be put out this month, mostly popular and modern music...The Computers section received a higher than normal volume of donations as well, the Main Rooms shelves are stocked full and there is ample overstock available in the Bargain Room...Next to the glass showcases lovers of antique books will find a big selection of antique books for $5.00 or less, includng some Children's titles...Seekers of inner peace will find many books on various forms of Buddhism in the Religion/Philsophy section...Our Military History section manager reports that he's received a higher than normal volume of books on World War I...A late addition to the specials is a gigantic donation of Romance Novels that will probably take several sales to go through. The bulk of it will be available in the Bargain Room but selected ones will be shelved in the Main Room between the Fiction and Law book cases.

 
Preview Our Shelves

Check out some of the tens of thousands of books that will be on sale this weekend using our shelf preview pictures.

The books in this case are offered to our regular customers for one month before they are listed online. The prices at the sale are significantly BELOW what they will be offered for sale online. On Saturday there will be a sign up sheet on the case for priority access. Due to the crowds in the room in the early part of the sale, no books will be sold from the cabinet until 1pm. On Sunday, access to the cabinet will be any time during the hours of the sale. See any FOPAL volunteer to unlock the case for you.

Click here to view the Exceptional Books inventory (HTML)

Click here to view the Exceptional Books inventory (PDF)

We've always gotten a good number of donations of books in many different languages. There are some really nice books in French and German available this month. We have also expanded our selection of books in Russian to it's own book case under the window in the Foreign Language section. And recently we've receiving a large number of books from a true multi-linguist in several different languages. This month our Section Manger is featuring books in CZECH, DUTCH, and TURKISH.

We are still working on the large CD donations we received last month. Thanks to all of the buyers who made the Classical CD special a big success. This month the remainer of the estate CDs (mostly popular but all genres well represented) and those we received from regular donations will be available for sale. Of note there are about four dozen CDs brand new still in the manufacturer's shrink wrapping.

 
Sunday! Sunday! Mystery 50% Off Sale; Free Books for Sunday Shoppers

On Sunday July 12 there will be a 50% off sale on one category of books in the Main Room. The category will not be announced ahead of time, the only way you can find out which category is on sale is by attending the sale on Sunday. Signs will be posted on the doors and on the shelves of the section involved on the morning of the Sale. In addition, we will have a small selection of FREE books available to shoppers on Sunday. One free book per person, and you must purchase at least one item from the Sale. There are a limited number of free books and first-come, first-served. This applies to the Main Room only. Doors open at 11 am.

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 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. NO BOXES are allowed in the sale, however.

By shopping at Kepler's Books in Menlo Park and Amazon.com, 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.  For Amazon.com, always start your shopping session by clicking here or on the Amazon link on the top right of any of our web pages at www.friendspaloaltolib.org.  Virtually all purchases you make at Amazon are eligible, not just books.  Over the years, we've raised thousands of dollars to help our libraries through these programs.