Library News

The Summer Reading for a Cause program is under way since June 1 but the kick-off is on June 8 (2pm at Mitchell Park Library so maybe something to do after our Saturday sale). It runs until August 1. Read all about it!

Pride at PACL started June 1 and goes all month. Read all about it!

Words on Wheels is again available to deliver Library books to Palo Alto residents who are unable to visit the library. You can read about it and enroll if appropriate.

You can find out about things like this from the Palo Alto City Library Blogs page. Or you can subscribe to them with an RSS reader.

All Library branches will be closed on Thursday July 4 for Independence Day.

You can also find out about all this stuff and more from an infrequent e-mail from the Library. There's a signup form.

-Frank McConnell

 
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!

Main Room information notes: For June check out an equally special selection of books, carefully curated by FOPAL 60+ Section Managers! The Science Fiction section is FULL this month with dozens of books and comic books filling the shelves! The Asian Language & Media section is overflowing in the Main Room and Bargain Room too. The Children's Room has a TON of terrific books, games, and puzzles received from several generous donations. And, the Music section is brimming with a myriad of books with an emphasis on Jazz. Also, for the Science fans this month you'll find these books have taken over an additional bay in the Specials Area. Look for Music and Science Specials just to your right of the entrance.

-Janette Herceg

 
Big Change in Bargain Room Pricing in July

Prices in the Bargain Room will change, beginning with the July sale. Hardback books will be $2, paperback books will be $1, and magazines will be 50 cents on Saturdays. The half-price rule on Sundays will still be in effect, as will the $5 bag (grocery bag size only!).

 
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 child, 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.

-Janette Herceg

 
The big CHANGE for FOPAL's parking lot!

Fire Station No. 4 at 3600 Middlefield will be relocating to the southwest parking lot at Cubberley Community Center for up to a 24-month stay during the construction of the new station. The temporary station will house the station's two fire personnel, one ambulance, and essential equipment for continued operations. Construction on the temporary site will begin in May 2024. On March 4, 2024, City Council approved the lease contract with Mobile Modular Management Corporation for the temporary station at Cubberley Community Center. The approved lease is a double wide modular trailer to be used as the fire personnel's living quarters. For questions or concerns, please email Public Works Engineering at PWEcips@cityofpaloalto.org. For general project information, visit www.cityofpaloalto.org/firestation4. As a result, parking near the sales will be limited. Latest information from the City: "...no official date yet, although the Modular Building will be delivered early July."

-Janette Herceg

 
Science Fiction and Fantasy, and Comics

Another big flood of SF paperbacks! A particularly large selection of David Drake and Lois Bujold, but lots of other great authors. Almost a full shelf of Dean Koontz hardbacks. In Fantasy, a bunch of Joe Abercrombie grimdark.

In Comics, nice hardcover collections of the first few issues of Mad, and the first installment of a flood of comic magazines, mostly Marvel.

Shelf pictures at fopalbooks.com.

-Rich McAllister

 
Children's Room

This month we feature books for dads, grads, and July 4th. There is plenty to choose from, on the display racks to the left of the exit door. Fathers' Day is June 16--don't forget!

The School-age Fiction section offers some lovely gift-quality classics: Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, The Adventures of Odysseus, and Illustrated Mythology with numerous maps and plates. Look on the fantasy shelves for many Rick Riordan books, the full series of The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann, all of the Divergent series by Virginia Roth, the Dresden Files novels by Jim Butcher, and lots of Harry Potter books. For teens, we have books by many of the New York Times most popular authors, including John Green, Marie Lu, Marissa Meyer, Scott Westerfeld, Leigh Bardugo, and Angie Thomas. On the school-age popular authors cart we have adventure stories by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, lots of the series How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell, the Treehouse stories by Andy Griffiths, several books by Chris Grabenstein, and many, many more.

In the Activities section you'll find project ideas and materials to launch the summer vacation, including bags and boxes of Legos (some in unopened kits), as well as a bin full of origami books. For the littlest fingers we have several wooden peg puzzles. As usual, our graphic novels shelves are overflowing. The beginning of the alphabet is particularly well-represented--Amulet, Asterix, and Bad Guys--along with many other series and singletons. Finally, we have trays full of small toys--perfect diversions to tuck into a carry-on bag or the armrest compartment of your car.

-Carolyn Davidson

 
Book Reviews From a Kid, For Kids

Fancy Nancy

by Jane O'Conner

This series is a very well known picture book with elegant illustrations, follow young Nancy with her shenanigans. From tea parties to dressups, this lovely picture book series is sure to capture your child's heart.
Ages 4 - 7.5

Maze Runner

by James Dashner

Maze Runner is a classic, suspenseful, and gorgeously written dystopian science fiction starring a boy named Thomas who is an amnesiac, and finds himself in what seems to be a giant maze. The other boys; the Gladers, tells him that there's no way out but through the dark, ivy covered maze where dangerous creatures lurk. Will Thomas find his way out? Or will he get stuck in the unfamiliar glade, forever?
Ages 12 - 16

-Emma Chen

 
Children's Vintage

June is "collections" month in children's vintage. So many people lovingly gather copies of their childhood favorites during their lifetime and then pass them on for other people to enjoy. To our benefit, children's vintage donations this month are robust with some of these collections. Big kids can choose between a large assortment of Asterix and Tin-Tin graphic novels (most in French, some in Spanish or English), many volumes in the Tarzan series and the Mars series by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and a matched set of The Happy Hollisters (18 volumes, all in dust jackets!) We also have the 1919 Book of Knowledge (20 volumes, complete) by Grolier. One of the first children's encyclopedias, each volume has the same master headings (Book of Golden Deeds, Book of Stories, Book of Familiar Things, etc) with different articles in each volume. It's a bit pricey, but worth it! And my personal favorite is the two-volumes of Hans Christian Anderson fairy tales in Swedish.

Little kids can choose between several nice copies of Holling C. and Lucille Holling books of nature (Minn of the Mississippi, Pagoo and Seabird). We also have many children's records (both 33-1/3 and 45 RPM) with fairy tales, Winnie the Pooh stories, or Sesame Street recordings (Feelings, Animals, Numbers, etc).

And as a special feature, we have several vintage games - a crated Apples to Apples, a wooden-boxed Dread Pirates, and Stories, a unique, boxed graphic novel by Chris Ware. In addition, there is a holdover from last month, 6 jigsaw puzzles of "modern" airplanes, featuring the planes of the 1940s.

See shelf pictures at https://fopalbooks.com/kids.html.

-Lisa Heitman

 
Computers

A large donation of books about the Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and similar hobbyist hardware enabled the creation of a special section just for such books. If you have any interest in hobby computing hardware, come and browse!

-David Cortesi

 
Home & Crafts

The June Home collection includes styles guides for men's and women's fashion from Clothes and the Man to Women's Wardrobe. Home decorating references feature: Barbra Streisand's My Passion for Design and Dorothy Draper's In the Pink. You'll also discover Marella Agnelli: The Last Swan. Look for Designing Women: Interiors by Leading Style Makers and John Loring's Tiffany Parties. Don't miss: The New Bohemians: Cool and Collected Homes. Turn your design passion blue with Carolyne Roehm's signed copy, A Passion for Blue and White. You'll find designer homes ranging from San Francisco Style to Arts and Crafts Style and Spirit. And for that minimal look, try Danish Modern by Andrew Hollingsworth. Here's a fun and useful building and remodeling title: Fixin' Ugly Houses for Money. Bring it all home with Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House. Additional home maintenance titles include: Mr. Fix-It Introduces You to Your Home, and The New York Times Home Repair Almanac. We have copies of the tried and true: Popular Science Complete Manual of Home Repair and the Reader's Digest New Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual to assist you with all your household needs.

Floral Arts continue to bloom this June on our Crafts shelves. Look for everything from The Art of Flower Arranging: Learning from the Master Florists at the Flower School of New York, to Decorating with Dried Flowers: A Step-by-Step Guide to Cultivating, Drying, and Arranging Dried Flowers and Plants. We have a special set: Seton's The Library of Pioneering and Woodcraft. Check out new crafty resources including: Wrapagami: The Art of Fabric Gift Wraps; Making Your Own Jewelry: Creative Designs to Make and Wear; Crafting Personal Shrines; and Playing with Image Transfers. For additional Fabric Arts try: The Happy Hooker: Stitch 'n Bitch Crochet by Debbie Stroller and Joyful Mending: Visible Repairs for the Perfectly Imperfect Things We Love! You'll also find: The Knitters Bible: The Complete Handbook for Creative Knitters as well as Art of the Embroiderer.

Shelf photos can be found at https://fopalbooks.com/crafts.html.

-Virginia Perry

 
Antiques & Collections

June titles in Antiques offer book collectors an array of rare book catalogs for review: Antiquariaat, H.P. Kraus, Martayan Lan, Simon Finch, and Roger Gaskell, among others. Look for The Coin Atlas: The World of Coinage from Its Origins to the Present Day. Here too, discover The Currency of Fame: Portrait Medals of the Renaissance. Another find, The World of Classic Stamps by James A. Mackay. We also have a broad variety of porcelain, silver, and gold offerings. Equally valuable are titles on British, French, and American furniture, as well as Persian rugs. Auction catalogs and other antique resources are available for your collecting reference.

Shelf photo can be found at https://fopalbooks.com/crafts.html.

-Virginia Perry

 
Poetry

What is so rare as a day in June?
Then, if ever, come perfect days;
But Poetry sings a sadder tune:
Funereal poems and ancient lays.
To cheer yourself, it's such a lark
To read some versions of The Snark
And, if you're really in a slump
Find laughs in poems on Donald Trump.

Find poetry pictures at https://fopalbooks.com/poetry,html

-Mandy MacCalla

 
Health

The Health section welcomes June with an intriguing selection of new reads. Among them,

• Gastrophysics: The New Science of Eating (Charles Spence)
• Twitch and Shout: A Touretteer's Tale (Lowell Handler)
• Engaging Autism (Greenspan, MD & Wieder, PhD)

Of course, there are many other fascinating books, plus some new DVDs and CDs. Please take a look at the following DVDs (second short shelf unit, top left cube hole):

• Living with Fibromyalgia: A Journey to Hope and Understanding
• Aero-Pilates: Introduction to AeroPilates, Level 1
• Aero Pilates: Simply Cardio & Pure Pilates, Level 3
• AM & PM: Yoga Conditioning for Weight Loss
• Its My Body, My Baby, My Birth

Plus, on the same shelf are an interesting selection of CDs:

• Mindful Healing; Working with Neck & Shoulder Pain
• Mindful Healing: Working with Back Pain
• Committed to Health; From Seed to Supplement
• Totally ADD: Tips for an Organized Life
PLUS:
• Zumba Fitness and Flat Abs (CD), which is combined with the Zumba Exhilarate Box (A Zumba exercise kit with more CDs and a set of toning sticks.)

-Suzanne Cholko

 
Curious Books

This month, Curious Books has been given a brisk reorganization. The top two shelves now feature books that are worth thinking about or helpful in some way. The usual diverse and entertaining books fill the lower shelves, with a special area for animal related books on the right.

Shelf picture may be found at https://fopalbooks.com/curious.html.

-Donya W.

 
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 interest this month - The Cigarette Sellers of Three Crosses Square; Plunder: A Memoir of Family Property and Nazi Treasure; Shanghai Diary: A Young Girl's Journey from Hitler's Hate to War-Torn China; Trees: ...The Green Testament; Reading the Hebrew Bible after the Shoah; Antisemitism: Here and Now; The Golden Land: The Story of Jewish Immigration to America (in shrink wrap).

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

 
Puzzles and Games

This month we received many new puzzles (cats anyone?!) and a nice variety of strategy games. In addition, last month we had an usually slow sale so all puzzles and most games that have been for sale more than a month or two have all been marked down. The bargain (bottom) shelves are full, too.

-Vicky Evans

 
Sociology/Anthropology

Out of the 531 volumes the Sociology/Anthropology section offers for the upcoming sale, I want to draw attention to a few recently received items. First is a collection of 21 books on various aspects of Maya culture that apparently came from the home library of a person professionally involved in the topic. Then, among many valuable works, a sub-section on sociological and anthropological theories features fundamental research by renowned French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste. Another new author for this sub-section is an American theoretician, writer, and activist, bell hooks. The sub-section offers her book, All About Love: New Vision. Finally, I invite patrons of the book sale to pay attention to the big format books in a sub-section on cultural anthropology. Most of them have just been received.

-Natalia Koulinka

 
History

It's summer, and time to take a trip. Check out the History section's collections of books on maps and cartography, as well as exploration. We have a large picture book on the history of the famous Green Book, a travel guide to segregated America. If you're planning to attend (or just watch) the Olympics we have books on the ancient Greek and not-so-ancient Rome games. For fans of Shogun there are a number of books about that period on the Japan shelf.

For collectors, we have a 1850 account of the French Revolution of 1848 by an eyewitness: Battle Summer, by Ik. Marvel. Heavily foxed but otherwise intact and priced to move.

-Lin McAllister

 
Donations

We accept donations on Monday through Saturday from 3-5 pm in the Main Room. 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 June 2 through Sunday June 9. Please hold your donations until Monday June 10.

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

 
Suggestions?

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