This is a community announcement. It was not written by The Ithaca Voice. To submit community announcements, please send them to Matt Butler at mbutler@ithacavoice.org.

The Friends of Tompkins County Public Library will hold the annual Spring Book Sale over three long weekends in May, beginning Saturday, May 6th, at 509 Esty St, Ithaca. The sale is open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday-Monday, May 6-8 and May 13-15, and Saturday-Tuesday, May 20-23. Prices start low and drop each weekend. Free parking is available across the street. More details are available online at www.booksale.org or call 607-272-2223.

Special shopping days: 

  • Senior Day (age 60+ and anyone with a disability): Wednesday,  May 17, 10am-4pm
  • Student Night (age 16+ with school ID): Wednesday, May 17, 4-8pm
  • Dime Day (every item on the main floor is just 10 cents!): Monday, May 22
  • Bag Day (BYO standard reusable bag and fill it for just $1 total!): Tuesday, May 23

Each Book Sale offers up to 250,000 gently used books, comics and graphic novels, DVDs, CDs, puzzles, games, and other items, organized into 70+ subject categories for easy shopping. The large Children’s Section, organized by subject as well, typically includes more than 30,000 items. The Collector’s Corner offers rare and antiquarian books, first editions, collectible vinyl records, art, ephemera, and vintage toys and games.  

Highlights of this Sale:  

This sale will feature a special display titled “Sailing the Shining Seas,” which includes books, movies, and other items from History and Military History, Fiction (e.g., the “Master and Commander” series by Patrick O’Brian), Hobbies (model ship building), Children (pirates, whales, mermaids), Travel, True Adventure, Photography, Art, Sports (yachting), Biography, and even Cookbooks (fish recipes!). 

Thanks to generous donations from the community, there will be more than 8,500 DVDs available at the spring sale, as well as a large Audio Books section with fiction and non-fiction titles. (Audio books are also found in the Young Adult and Children’s sections.) In Vintage Fiction, there is a wide selection of books by Grace Livingston Hill, the very popular early-20th century writer (and Elmira College alumna) who originated the genre of Christian romance novels. Patrons can find an entire bay devoted to books on the Holocaust in the World History section, over 200 high school and college yearbooks from western NY schools (1940-1990s) in the Local Interest section, an extra-large number of fiction and non-fiction titles in Large Print, and a special collection of Braille books in the Children’s section. 

First Day Purchase Limit:  In order to serve as many book lovers as possible, on the first Saturday, May 6th, each shopper may purchase a maximum of 50 items at a time. After checking out, customers must leave the building, but may rejoin the line to come in and shop again as many times as they wish.  

Proceeds from the Book Sales held each spring and fall are used to fund the Friends of the Library’s annual grants that support Tompkins County Public Library and other libraries in the Finger Lakes region, as well as local non-profit organizations for literacy and reading projects, and scholarships for library science students.