The Friends of the Pima County Public Library monthly book sale is unrivaled in Southern Arizona with thousands of titles available on the cheap. The event runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Friday-Monday this weekend at the group's facility β 2230 N. Country Club Rd.
The sale is 25 percent off for seniors (55-and-older) on Saturday and 50 percent off for all on Sunday. Fill a bag with books for $10 on Monday. Admission is free.
You could basically fill everyone's stockings and find two years of birthday gifts in one go.
More than 25,000 books come through the non-profit's doors each month, donated by book collectors and the Pima County library system, according to Libby Stone, the organization's executive director since 2007.
The gems are sold through online sites such as Amazon and AbeBooks or through auction houses (L. Frank Baum's "Mother Goose in Prose," a title received by the Friends last summer, recently went for $1,500).
The remaining titles are sold at the monthly sale, which takes place Friday, Nov. 11 through Monday, Nov. 14 this month.
The Friends sale has thousands of titles available, most of which are $1-$4 apiece.
The money raised goes back into the Pima County library system. The Friends raise up to $250,000 a year for the Pima County system's programs and services.
What you might find
Kids books
While parents can get lost for hours in the mystery, romance and history of the various fiction and nonfiction sections, kids also have ample opportunity to peruse shelf after shelf of the children's books section.
Added bonus: Most of the books in the children's section, which is located on the northeast end of the building, are between 50 cents and $1.
Cookbooks
They take up a large chunk of real estate on the south wall of the book sale building.
If creating culinary delights is your thing, sales will often be overflowing with new and not-so-new guides to local, regional and international dishes.
Barbara Trokey looks through a cookbook at the Friends of the Pima County Public Library book sale located at 2230 North Country Club Road.
Music
In addition to books, the Friends sales often carry hundreds of album titles in CD and vinyl format. Again, prices are kept to a minimum (starting at $1).
"We have a lot of regulars who come to every sale for the albums," director Libby Stone said. "They love it."
Antiques
The coolest section by far at the book sale is the one where you can browse titles that were released more than 100 years before you were born.
Stone said the Friends receive plenty of antique and vintage books every month, most of which are sold on-site.
The 1862 copy of Charles W. Sanders' "Young Ladies' Reader" seen above will be available this weekend for $4.
Local authors
The Arizona authors and Western book sections are some of the most popular sections at the sale, according to Stone.
Fiction and non-fiction authors familiar to Tucson (Jance, Kingsolver etc) are represented.
The section also usually has its fair share of titles dealing with Tucson's rich history.
Gifts
You can't throw a rock (nor should you) inside the Friends' building without finding books worth gifting to others.
The sale has many areas where specialty titles and signed titles can be found.
If you are willing to spend a little extra, the Best of Friends room on the west side of the building has a selection that costs a bit more, but would make for quality stocking stuffers and under-the-tree surprises.
Your next good read
With 25,000 titles coming in monthly, you probably don't have to worry about the Friends running out of new titles to sell to the public.
The organization's warehouse is packed with books and a small army of more than 300 volunteers regularly come in to restock the shelves.
