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

Saturday January 14
 Ephemera 8 am - 4 am
Bargain and Children's Rooms 10 am - 4 pm
Main Room Sale 11 am - 4 pm
Tent Sale 9 am - 4 pm
*WEATHER PERMITTING*

Sunday January 15
 All Rooms Open 11 am - 4pm


FEATURED IN JANUARY 

Birds & Birding
Mysteries & Thrillers
Cooking
European History
Gardening


 

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!

 
Libraries Closed January 15 & 16
All libraries will be closed Sunday and Monday, January 15th and 16th, for the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. Regular hours resume Tuesday, January 17th.
 
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 suggestions@friendspaloaltolib.org or mention them to a volunteer at the sale.

January Sale Notes

January marks a new year and new beginnings.... Books on Birds and Bird Watching are prominently featured in the Nature section and in the "Specials" bookcase just outside the sorting room door.... Time to start planning that Spring garden. Lots of ideas to be had in our Gardening section.... If getting your hands dirty isn't your thing, then maybe getting your home in order is the ticket. Our Home and Crafts manager says she's got a good selection of books on Feng Shui along with the usual assortment of decorating and remodeling texts.... Lovers of European History will find a larger than normal selection in the History section this month.... Thanks to the plethora of food and cooking shows on TV the market for books about food and cooking has never been better. Perhaps the need to clear some space on one's cook book shelf has resulted in the bounty of lightly used Cookbooks we've been getting of late.... The West features a big collection of Louis L'Amour books.... A large donation of Manga can be found in the bookcases right outside the sorting room office door.... and next to that you'll find some cheap Erotica some wholesaler or publisher was kind enough to drop off on our doorstep.

 
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.

 
Book Shelves For Sale
FOPAL secured some nice shelving from the recently closed Borders book store in downtown Palo Alto. As a result we've replaced some of our smaller shelving and we have several bookcases available for only $10 each. They will be available outside the Bargain Room during the sale. You can pay for them during the sale and we can make arrangements for you to pick them up later if it is not convenient to take them at the sale.
 
Late-Breaking Children's Room News
This month, you'll find something very special in the Children's Room. a large collection of teacher "big books" for classroom read-alouds -- classic stories, science and math topics, beautiful illustrations. Also great for parents and kids to read together.
 
Better Book Sale Update
The last Better Book Bonanza was tentatively scheduled for December but we had to cancel it for lack of volunteer time available. We will continue to collect material and are planning on the next one being in March. For current news regarding this sale please check the web site or subscribe to our Twitter feed (below).
 
Special Thanks To The Following
All of the volunteers at FOPAL are very grateful to all the members of the community and fans of the book sale for the support that allows us to keep doing our work to repurpose books and support the Libraries. We would like to give special thanks to the following for exceptional gifts given to us during the past year and a half:

McCarthy Engineering
The Estate of Henry Ponleithner
HP Labs, a division of Hewlett-Packard (special thanks to Jeff A.)
St. Patrick's Seminary
Ecumenical Hunger Project
Unexpected Treasures
Elephant Books

 
Change Is Afoot
Our current manager Jerry Stone will soon be devoting more of his time to a new venture. Fortunately, he's not leaving us, he'll be working on some strategic projects for FOPAL, but this change means we're looking for a new Book Sales Manager. This person will be responsible for overseeing one of the largest monthly sales in Northern California, plus two satellite bookstores in our branch libraries, plus online and auction sales. Do you know a resourceful, creative individual with a proven track record of managing talented, dedicated volunteers? Tell him or her to send us a resume at FOPALmgrsearch@yahoo.com.

(A full job description is available.)
 
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 Tuesday 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.