Alex and I were up bright and early for the start of the 64th Annual Friends of the Library of Hawaii Book Sale! Last year we paid the Friends of the Library membership fee during the Friday night members only sale, but this year we couldn’t go on Friday so we decided to tough it out with the rest of the public, thus the lateness of this post.
This is always one of our favorite events of the year since the sale lasts for a whole week with over 100,000 gently used books up for grabs at criminally low prices. An entire school cafeteria brimming with books of all kinds–tables and shelves along the walls and full boxes everywhere–it’s a readers dream. Each year we do a quick write up to let you all know what’s changed and what hasn’t.
The Hawaiiana section is still immediately to your right as you walk in, the prices on these are always pretty high and the competition to get the rare and out of print books is fierce. Like last year, they’ve put up a shelf of “technology” books right behind the Hawaiian section so room is particularly sparse in this area. Art and history are nearest the registers like usual with Sci-fi/Fantasy, Literature and Thrillers on the left side.
I noticed a lot of foreign language and travel books this year as opposed to the years prior, so if you’re looking to learn a new language or buy anything in Korean or Japanese, you might wanna head down there sometime this weekend. The children’s books seemed a bit smaller to me this year and instead of using the hallway perpendicular to the cafeteria, as they usually do, they put fiction, hobbies, cookbooks and children’s books just outside under the white tent. Still, there’s a lot to be had and all proceeds help support our public libraries. So, go forth and spend!
Of course all the best deals are next weekend when the books go for half off the penciled in price, or next Sunday when everything is twenty-five cents. We’ll be there on both of these days I’m sure; although Alex has more endurance than I do, I’m usually quite happy to sit out front on the picnic tables, reading in the shade with a yummy beverage from one of the food trucks they have camped out for the sale.
[gn_divider]Alex here! Most of what Misty said was on the mark. The layout is similar to previous years and as usual, when the shelves start getting emptier they bring in the boxes with even more books! So, even if you don’t see something one day, you may have to come back sometime later in the week because you never know what new books might be put on the shelf. As usual, Hawaiiana is a bit more expensive, although if you really like local fiction, you might find some really good deals on those books. I tried to take a lot of pictures this year to capture the feel of the sale, hope you enjoy them:
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Don’t forget to go everyday this week until June 26th! Help support our public libraries!
