I was browsing in the Russian Hill Bookstore this winter, and I turned to my friend and said idly, “You can never have too many books.” He mocked: “So says the girl with one stack of books.” A little taken back, I defended my singular tower of literature by insisting that I had more in storage. But later, after the staircase wit had settled in, I realized that a “Dude, it’s 2009, we all have Kindles,” might have been more successful.
Nevertheless, I still really do have one lonely stack of books in my apartment, and it’s about time I change that. This week kicked off the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library 45th Annual Big Book Sale at Fort Mason Center’s Festival Pavilion where over 300,000 books, DVDs, CDs, books-on-tape, and vinyl sell for $5 or less. All proceeds from the sale benefit library programs which promote literacy, and just to give you an idea, $265,000 was raised at the ’08 sale.
You can bet your bottom dollar that I’ll be there. Last year, I attended on the sale’s closing day (where all books cost $1 or less) and walked away with some serious steals, but only after waiting in the checkout line for 30 minutes. Today I’ll be waiting for the flood gates to open at 10 a.m., grabbing novels and cookbooks from every table like a looter in a post-Katrina Wal-Mart.
Thursday, September 24—10 AM-8 PM
Friday, September 25—10 AM-8 PM
Saturday, September 26—10 AM-8 PM
Sunday, September 27—10 AM- 6 PM (All Books $1 or less!)
And did you know? On normal days, libraries just let you borrow their books for free!
Have fun! I’m totally jealous, and may have to hit up the cheap-o Sunday sale time.
Yeah you definitely should! And come by my place if you do!
I went to it last year and got amazing books!