Friends of Seattle Public Library Book Sale

I anticipate these sales every year because they are are so worth the time, effort and distance of seeking out used books for two or three bucks. If you’re a book lover like me, and don’t mind reading old and used books, you will always leave these sales with plenty of books that you didn’t even know you wanted… or needed! I’m so glad that the Friends of Seattle Public Library holds these sales because no matter what I have scheduled during these sales — I always plan for them.
Tip — Bring a lot of totes.

The absolute best place to get new (used) books in Seattle. A hangar filled to the brim with books. I like to go twice — once at the very beginning of the sale, before everything gets picked over, and then once again on the last day when then books are only 50 cents, and you can pick up books you wouldn’t usually buy — usually cookbooks for me.
You’ll have to fight the crowds as well as the resellers who look up UPC to see what the going rates are. Ignore them. It’s worth the fight.

Oh dear me, I have found my Heaven.
I went on Sunday because of time constraints on Saturday and am very happy I did. EVERYTHING was 50% off. That is B-​A-​N-​A-​N-​A-​S. I found books that were originally $ 40 for $ 1. How is that even possible!!!
I got 7 books for $ 5.50. This includes bill clinton and hillary clintons autobiographies, other fictional books, and very very popular novels that would cost a billion times more every other place.
It was very organized. Had books by sections and it was packed!
My only qualm was the payment system. We waited in line, got called over by someone with a colored fly swatter, he wrote out how many soft/​hard backs we had, and told us to go down there to pay.
uhhhh…what’s «down there?» It’s an airplane hanger. I could fit my boyfriends town in here.
When I started walking down «there» this lady almost guillotined me and brandished her fly swatter at me to GET BACK HERE. Apparently, I had walked past the invisible cashier and was scolded. A sign would have been nice?
All in all, I really enjoyed this event and will absolutely come back next year. It is a great community event and I greatly enjoyed it.

Very well organized sale. Thousands of books to choose from (it is a former airplane hanger after all) and most books (I’d guess 95% of them) were $ 2 for hardbacks and $ 1 for paperbacks with a few books in a «Better Book» section and a «Rare Book» section but even those were reasonable, lots of $ 3 books. For example in the rare book area, Churchhill’s ‘A History of the English-​Speaking Peoples’ four volume set (sun faded dust jackets but the books were in good shape) for $ 12? Very reasonable if you just want a good reading set. Graphic novels? They have them, enough to fill their own room. They also have an annex with DVD’s, Audio Books and other media for great prices. I picked up some books on CD for $ 1 each! You just have to check the discs to make sure they don’t have any fatal scratches. If you go on Sunday most of the books are ½ off these low prices. We’ll be back next year for sure.
PS: take a cart or suitcase with wheels if you’re a bookaholic, you will need it!

Awesome book sale! Many good bargains on books that are pretty cheap. Good way to support the SPL! People spend hours and hours searching for books and other treasures. Find books here that are much less than other bookstores! Definitely an event for readers galore!!!

My family & I arrived late & we had 30 minutes to comb through the huge building… I found some great books for friends & my son & I had a BLAST looking through all the treasures! I can’t wait when they do it again in September!

I want to marry this book sale.

Two weeks ago, I looked for a specific, out-​of-​print cookbook on Amazon. No luck. So I gave up… I found it here for $ 1! This place has a ton of older cookbooks that I’ve never seen anywhere else.
BTW, I could spend all day in their humongous paperback fiction section.

i believe in karma. and i believe the karma gods love me. or at least the book gods do. after experiencing this book sale, it’s the only explanation.
the travel dates we had to go visit a cousin in seattle got adjusted thanks to my well-​meaning but über annoying uncle who just can’t help himself in all his self-​centeredness. uncle decided that the 3 folks (myself included) already planning the trip should move their dates b/​c he had a conference out there for work (and got wind of our plan and wouldn’t it be better if we were all there when he was?). my traveling companions — a minor and a senior citizen — went along with his new plan, but i bitched and moaned and refused to change my dates [b/​c unbeknownst to them, i was supposed to be enjoying a bunch of drunken vegas debauchery with a girlfriend of mine around the same time as these new uncle-​dates]. after bitching and moaning some more, i comprimised a little bit, but not much. they’d arrive before me, and i’d fly and out to join them once i dried out. fine, whatever. we bought our plane tickets, and then i bitched and moaned some more.
FF to september. vegas was great. everyone should go once in their lives. probably not much more than that. seattle was a GREAT way to wind down from the sensory overload that is vegas. after a couple of days seeing the sights and the city, seattle resident cousin says, «hey, do you want to see where i work?» sure, we want to see, so we pile into the car and head over to some sort of very old and abandoned-​looking naval base turned state park. i know cousin works for some environmental group, but even still i’m raising my eyebrows and wondering what’s going on. cousin is wondering what’s going on too, b/​c when we get close to what is apparently her office building we can’t drive any further b/​c there are cones all over the parking lot and people setting up something around the old airplane hangar. then she says, suddenly remembering, «oh! how could i forget. the library sale is this weekend and…»
«THE library sale?!» i say, interrupting her. i am so excited i could pee my pants. how could she possibly forget something like that?! i live on the east coast and have always heard about this sale in my book clubs/​reading circles. it is legendary. everyone who has ever been says so. and that YOU MUST GO. and cousin is the ONLY person in our family who reads more than i do. grandma, who is also on the visit and in the car with us, is a very close 3^rd. i go on and on about all i’ve heard about this library sale and how incredibly freaking juiced i am that i am in seattle when it’s happening. cousin is amused and delighted. grandma is very interested. the offspring is less than thrilled, but he will have to get over it.
so now, all plans for the weekend have been demoted to ‘yeah, maybe if we get to it’ status in favor of the book sale. i am already reviewing my bookshelves in my head for room and titles i already own while we’re waiting in line,. there’s lots of fun chatting with other book nuts waiting to get in. these people are SERIOUS about their book shopping, and many have been coming for years. people brought their own carts, boxes, bags, even laundry baskets and barrels to fill! WOW. once inside the hangar (a whole airplane hangar full of books! *HEAVEN*), you are given a MAP for the sale and let loose. there are tables and shelves and stacks and boxes of every kind of book imaginable — fiction, nonfiction sci-​fi/​fantasy, self-​help, romance, cooking, biography, health, text, picture, childrens, coffee table, and on and on and on. and almost everything is under $ 3/​book! :-o we found 2 books the offspring was fascinated with, and suddenly he was happy to be there too. b/​w grandma, cousin, and i we purchased about 85 books, for less than $ 100 total!!!
it was the highlight of my trip. it was everything i’d heard and then some. and i was bitching and moaning about changed dates for my seattle travel. the book/​karma gods must love me. it’s the only explanation.

Dear Friends of Seattle,
Thank you for doing this. Seriously. Thank you. This is the best thing ever. I’ve found some amazing books that I’ve been searching forever for, for only $ 1 here. I’ve picked up books on the whim because they’re so cheap, and they’ve been great. This event is always marked on my calendar, and I make a point to go to it at least once on Saturday and usually on Sunday too. I can’t get enough. The boyfriend hates the fact that I «clutter» my room with books, but he has been warned that if he can’t accept it, he’s gone. So please, keep doing this and keep testing my relationship because you’re so worth it!
Love,
Compulsive Book Buyer in Seattle

Jumping Jehosephat, the amount of books!
I haven’t gone too often, because it’s really a wild guess for me as to when it’s happening… but, when I have. I swear that I feel like I’m going to pass out after going through each and every row of books in the entire warehouse (and people who know me would probably know that I have to go through rows at least a couple of times) — there were so many to go through! Surprisingly, the very long lines for the cashier get through fairly quickly.
My little heart squeals with joy when I dig through each and every box in the children’s and young adult’s area to find one of the books from my childhood that I can no longer get my hands on because they’re out of print.

I wish I knew how to quit you.

Think of the Friends of the Library Book Sale as an additional two or three days of Christmas during the year, but you are buying for yourself! Actually, it would be more like six additional days of Christmas because they have two sales a year! The FOL hosts a sale in the spring (April) and one in the fall (September). The sale is held in one of the old airplane hangers at the old Sand Point Naval Air Station (Magnuson Park).
One thing that is new this year is that they have one price for all books, records and cds/​dvds: $ 1. How can you go wrong with something like that? Plus everything is half off on Sunday! The only exception to the pricing will be found in the Better Books, Art Prints and Rare Books/​Sets section.
I can highly recommend purchasing a membership to the FOL. Annual membership costs $ 15 ($ 30 day of sale). The big advantage of membership is being able to shop at the member’s only preview sale on Friday. I’m not saying that that the pickings are slim by the time Sunday rolls around, but it is always good to have a larger selection to choose from on Friday. The only thing is that you are limited to 25 items at the preview sale. So make those items count!
I didn’t buy too many this time around — 17 total books and 4 dvds. I totally scored this past Sunday on Buck Rogers in the 25^th Century Complete Epic Series on dvd for $ 7.50! C’mon, it may be a campy show, but Erin Gray is in it!
In all, I spent $ 45.50 on what would have been $ 478.34 if I purchased retail.
You have got to love that kind of savings! =)
I’ve got to go pee. (me at sale 30 minutes early)
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I’ve got to go pee! (random person at sale 10 hours early)
A = Nonfiction
B = Better Books
C = Rare Books & Sets/​Books on Tape/​Graphic Novels (outside room)
D = Children’s Books
E = Fiction
F = Paperback Fiction
G = Art Prints & Paperback Fiction
H = Regular Records
I = Videos & CDs
$ = Counters & Cahiers
Membership can be purchased here:

It can’t get any better than this.
Big crowds, peopel who lov e books and ideas.
Come back the second day. they still have good books. I almost think they saved lots for the second day.
Park and walk a bit and then enjoy the park.

We’re the ones with the handtruck loaded up with milk crates full of books. And no, we don’t own a bookstore or anything. This sale really is that good.
I finally made the leap to «Better Books» this year, and it was so worth it. No, they’re not a buck. But $ 4 for an apparently brand-​new Harry Potter GoF isn’t bad either. And they have newer reference books than the main tables.

Don’t be embarrassed to bring a suitcase to this thing. The first time I went, I thought the people doing this were mad. The second time I went, I did the same thing.
Friday Night of the Sale is a highlight, as Friends get a special preview and can buy up to 25 books that night. Of course, after Friday, you can come in on Saturday and Sunday and buy books to your hearts content.
It’s a bit of a stampede to the books, as you would imagine, but it’s pretty well sectioned off and organized, considering how big and how many books and people there are.
If you are a Friend, be sure to have your special card with you, as I was a Friend the first time I went, but didn’t have my special «Sale access card», and I had to do a bunch of bureaucratic screwing-​around before I convinced anyone that I was a member and not a freeloader.

More fun in an airplane hangar than anyone should be allowed to have. Twice a year we go here and load up. Truthfully I’ve bought more books than I’ll ever read; I probably could have used some of them for building a fire during the blackout.
But a bargains a bargain and at .25 –1.00 a book you just can’t go wrong («Better Books» are a little more). And you’re helping out the Library which is awesome.
Friday nights are for members and you’re limited to 25 books, but the crowds are a little smaller and you get first crack at everything.
If you’re going to go prepare by bringing a few strong shopping bags to pile up your goodies.
The next one is April 20−22−2007
Updated on 9÷29÷07 — The professional booksellers who have been being a bit of a problem for several years seem to have reached critical mass this year. In years past I’d often get there in the early afternoon and have plenty of books to choose from, but this year I got there at 2 and there was a lot less to choose from. The Friends of The Library are taking steps to control the professionals, and I have no problem with free enterprise, but if you want the best choice go Friday night or early on Saturday.

It is an airplane hangar full of books. If your heart, like mine, soars with a deep yearning when you read the phrase «airplane hangar full of books» then this is the hangar full of books for you.
You belong here, book nerd. The book sale will haunt your dreams.

Got a book fetish? You can satiate your desires «Swap Meet Louie» style at the FSPL Book sale going on this weekend. You should probably stop reading this and just head over there right now to ensure the best selection.
Personally, I’m going to forgo the book sale and stick to visiting the library on a regular basis because I’m afraid. I’m afraid that first I’ll buy some innocent paperback, then I’ll move on to hardcovers, and when I get to anthologies it’s all over — I have to move to the suburbs to some McMansion just so I can have a better price per square foot!
It’s a slippery slope people.