In its 56th year, a used book sale for charity will be held at the Arizona State Fairgrounds this Saturday and Sunday.
Book Sale 56 is held and organized by the Volunteer Nonprofit Service Association. The inventory for this year’s book sale is set to include about half a million books in 27 different categories, said Gayle Mort, a publicity team member for VNSA.
The books are collected throughout the year from donation drop boxes around the Valley and sorted into categories before the sale.
Pricing for books starts at $1.50 for paperbacks. Most books will be reduced to half-price on Sunday.
“People appreciate the reasonable prices and that the money goes to charity to help those less fortunate,” Mort said.
The money earned is used in part for paying the rental price at the Arizona State Fairgrounds, and the rest of the profits are donated back to the community.
Over $6 million has been given back to the community throughout the book sale’s 56-year span, and more than $200,000 went to the community last year, Mort said. The two main charities that VNSA has worked with are the Literacy Volunteers of Maricopa County and Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation.
Some of the Book Sale 56 customers may be visiting from outside the state and even the country. One customer has traveled from Australia the past few years to attend the book sale, Mort said. Book dealers from different states also attend the sale and appreciate the freshness of VNSA’s inventory, which is different every year.
The sale is always held on the second weekend of February, said Gail Plache, VNSA TV and radio coordinator and this year’s religious-books category chair.
There are 10,000 to 20,000 shoppers expected over the weekend. In previous years, lines have started at 3 a.m., Mort and Plache said.
“People bring their families and lawn chairs. It’s a sort of party atmosphere,” Mort said.
Although he’s not a self-proclaimed book-lover, criminal justice freshman Alex Brown enjoys finding collectible books and older prints.
“I love the feel of physical books. I don’t really like Kindles (e-book readers). They’re kind of annoying. I can’t get into them,” Brown said.
As a California native, Brown was not aware of the VNSA’s annual book sale, but after hearing about it and its charitable cause, he’s considering attending.
Contact the reporter at carolina.m.lopez@asu.edu
