Library plans big 'Book Fair' next week Library plans big 'Book Fair' next week (September 08, 2004)

By Jane Knoerle
Almanac Staff Writer

The longest-running book fair in San Mateo County, the 49th Menlo Park Library Book Fair, will be held Saturday and Sunday, September 18 and 19, outdoors at the Menlo Park Civic Center at 800 Alma St.

One hundred tables will be stacked with thousands of books organized into 30 categories. A pocketbook version of "Catcher in the Rye" will set you back 50 cents. A hardback copy of Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" will go for $1. "The Grapes of Wrath"? It's yours for 50 cents. Most children's books will sell for less than $2.

The sale includes hundreds of videos and cassettes.

The sale begins at 9:30 a.m. both days, and ends at 5 p.m. Saturday and 1:30 p.m. Sunday. Beginning at noon Sunday, all remaining items that shoppers can fit into a grocery bag will be sold for $2 a bag.

Four cashier stations will expedite sales and volunteers will help carry purchases to shoppers' cars.

Auction

Written bids on "collectible" books, some of them first editions, will be taken all day Saturday and until 11:30 a.m. Sunday inside the Menlo Park City Council Chambers.

Beginning at 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon, all books with a bid over $25 will be auctioned orally by George Fox of Pacific Book Auction Galleries in San Francisco. Potential bidders must obtain a number card at the sign-up table and bids must be made in increments of $2 or more.

Auction books include: "My Camera in the National Parks" by Ansel Adams, a 1950 first edition signed by the author; "Hummingbirds" by John Gould, a 1990 reprint of 1849-61 plates; and Bancroft's "The Native Races of the Pacific States of North America," an 1875 leather-bound five volume set in excellent condition, according to auction chairman Jackie Drew.

Youth art contest

Students in kindergarten through sixth grade are invited to enter the Friends' art contest. The deadline for entry is noon Friday, September 10. Students should submit their entry to their school office or participating organization.

The artwork should be a drawing on 8-1/2 by 11-inch paper showing the artist's appreciation for his or her favorite book.

Winners will receive a certificate for the purchase of books at the Book Fair. Selected artwork will be displayed at the library and at Kepler's bookstore.

For information about the art contest, call the Friends' office at 325-3001.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.