Friends of the Library Book Sale
Used book store · Ithaca ·

Friends of the Library Book Sale

Used book store · Ithaca ·

Warehouse sale: books, CDs, games, movies, records. Cheap!

Friends of the Library Book Sale by null
Friends of the Library Book Sale by
Friends of the Library Book Sale by null
Friends of the Library Book Sale by null
Friends of the Library Book Sale by null
Friends of the Library Book Sale by null
Friends of the Library Book Sale by null
Friends of the Library Book Sale by null
Friends of the Library Book Sale by null
Friends of the Library Book Sale by null
Friends of the Library Book Sale by null
Friends of the Library Book Sale by null
Friends of the Library Book Sale by null
Friends of the Library Book Sale by null
Friends of the Library Book Sale by null
Friends of the Library Book Sale by null
Friends of the Library Book Sale by null
Friends of the Library Book Sale by null
Friends of the Library Book Sale by null
Friends of the Library Book Sale by null
Friends of the Library Book Sale by null
Friends of the Library Book Sale by null
Friends of the Library Book Sale by null
Friends of the Library Book Sale by null
Friends of the Library Book Sale by null

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509 Esty St, Ithaca, NY 14850 Get directions

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509 Esty St, Ithaca, NY 14850 Get directions

+1 607 272 2223
booksale.org
@ithacabooksale
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@IthacaBooksale

$

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Oct 26, 2025

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@onthegrid
18,031 Postcards · 834 Cities

On the Grid : Friends of the Library Book Sale

"May & October weekends - locals plan their schedules around attending the book sale. The first weekend of the three weekend stretch is the most expensive, but aside from rarities and first editions, nothing is over $4. Go on the first day and you'll wait in the longest lines, but you'll also get a glimpse of the folks who camped overnight to be first inside. Ithaca is a town full of advanced degrees, so it makes sense that book sale patrons often behave like band groupies when confronted with such a literary mecca. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, can be found at the book sale. 1970's craft magazines? Oh yeah. Science textbooks, history, biographies, loads of scifi, mystery and trade paperbacks? Yup. A huge children's corner, board games, movies on VHS and DVD, comic books, record albums... you get the picture. If you're in town when the sale is on, just go. You won't be disappointed." - St. John Design Group

https://onthegrid.city/ithaca/downtown-ithaca/friends-of-the-library-book-sale
Friends of the Library Book Sale - Donations Only
@onthegrid
18,031 Postcards · 834 Cities

"Friends of the Library Book Sale, Downtown Ithaca. May & October weekends - locals plan their schedules around attending the book sale. The first weekend of the three weekend stretch is the most expensive, but aside from rarities and first editions, nothing is over $4. Go on the first day and you'll wait in the longest lines, but you'll also get a glimpse of the folks who camped overnight to be first inside. Ithaca is a town full of advanced degrees, so it makes sense that book sale patrons often behave like band groupies when confronted with such a literary mecca. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, can be found at the book sale. 1970's craft magazines? Oh yeah. Science textbooks, history, biographies, loads of scifi, mystery and trade paperbacks? Yup. A huge children's corner, board games, movies on VHS and DVD, comic books, record albums... you get the picture. If you're in town when the sale is on, just go. You won't be disappointed."

Ithaca
Friends of the Library Book Sale - Donations until April 16, 2022

Judy G.

Google
Beyond lucky to drop into Ithaca for a month and hit the Spring Library Book Sale. It's more than an incredible saving on books, movies, music, etc., it's an interesting adventure. Many thanks to the kind and hard-working volunteers!

marlie L.

Google
Great book sale with a huge range to select from! The organizers fo an amazing job putting the book sale on! The lines to get in can get long do definitely bring something to do and maybe a snack

Justin Z.

Google
DANGER! You're going to need to get more bookshelves at home. If you go on the first days (best selection available) You'll spend time in line waiting for others to leave so that more can be let in. I waited 40 minutes on day 1, but it's a pleasant place to stand all things considered. Huge selection, many gems, great prices (especially near the end of the run). I think day 1 books range roughly $3-5. Something I look forward to every year. Happy to have all Tom Robbin's books back after gifting most of my collection to friends over the years.

Yeju C

Google
It was huge and big! Heaven for readers. Heard the maximum number of books you can get is 50. I'm not really a reader but still had fun as there was a puzzle/game section. The price is 👌 AMAZING!!

dina n

Google
Amazing Sale. We went on day at the end of the book sale. The comic book section was empty, but we still found tons of books!!!! We bought 48 books, for $4.80!!! The Children's Section was just great. We are so glad we went!!! I highly recommend going to the book sale. Leave yourself plenty of time for all of the wonderful sections to browse through

jeremy P.

Google
Love this book sale. We go both times every year. Today we just donated, but the process was super easy.

Jill D.

Google
Twice a year there is a 3week sale on used books in all categories. You can stock up on ton of different books fiction, cook,travel,art,classroom and things you might not buy at full price. Spend the time to find interesting books. Old records and CDs,games and kids books. The prices go down each week. Check out website. Donate books in November.

Gurinder K.

Google
They spread knowledge, very organized layout and such cheap books.
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Veggie M.

Yelp
Simply the best place to find used books on the cheap. I only wish it were more than twice a year! The volunteers are super friendly; they'll help you find whatever you need. Get there early on the first day, wait in line (some folks even camp out!), get best sellers for $4. Four dollars! Wait another week, and you'll find them for $2. The last week, an entire bag of books for $1... and it's NOT just junk by then, really! I have found everything from fiction to cookbooks, art books, jigsaw puzzles, movies, even note cards. There's a collector's corner with more valuable items, and a very large children's book section. You can browse for hours - and take home a haul for a bargain price if you're willing to put in the time. Bring a list and a bag. It's a blast!
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Bob Jude F.

Yelp
The greatest book sale. Amazing. A warehouse full of books is the closest thing to heaven on Earth.
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Laura C.

Yelp
Just wonderful! I am from out of town. I happened to be in the neighborhood and stopped by this book sale. Today (May 15) was the first day of the third weekend of their May sale. I can only imagine the selection at the beginning of the sale and how much stock was probably available. Even so, the selection today was remarkable. You certainly get a flavor for what all the college professors are requiring lit majors to buy by the mass quantities of certain titles. Anyhow, this sale has all kinds of books that are organized by topic and then by author. Really well run and the staff is friendly and efficient. Cash, check or card accepted. Today they marked down the prices; the most expensive book was 50 cents. The deals are wild! Masks and social distancing are enforced. There was a line outside when I arrived (5:15pm) and I waited for about 20-25 minutes to get in. It seemed to be a slower time and I'm not sure what the wait would be if it was a peak hour. If you pay $100 to become a "friend" you can have early accsss. It was well worth my time and I'm happy to support this organization!
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Angela N.

Yelp
Nowhere else in my life have I seen people camped out overnight or standing in line for 2, sometimes 3 hours for a book sale. And Ithaca's Friends of the Library milks it hard. It's a warehouse outfitted just like your local bibliotheque, and it opens exactly twice a year for a few weekends at a time. The books span all breadths and most are in very good condition. The awesome part: as the days go by, it gets cheaper and cheaper. Mind-blowingly cheap. I stood in line for opening weekend of its fall sale two weeks ago and everything was $4.50 and under. Last Saturday, everything was $0.50 and under. On the last day, and it was $1.00 per bagful. People leave the place with dollies of books. They fill their cars with them. This place is like ... it's like... It's like finding out that Santa is real after all. In your twenties.
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Liz B.

Yelp
This Book sale and Wegman's are among the things I miss most about Ithaca. I always went multiple times, at the minimum opening day and toward the end when things were super cheap. Amazing selection, reasonable prices, a great money saver. Best book sale ever.
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Mark H.

Yelp
Have you ever heard a book sale where people camp out the night before to get a place in line? It's true, they line up around the block! Well organized sale, you should hit the paperbacks the first weekend,then the hardcovers the second weekend for your best bang for your buck! Tip: bring sturdy canvas bags or a travel bag on wheels as you will find so many great books you'll want to take home Try volunteering at the sale to see the great cross-section of Ithacans in all their eccentric glory. All profits go to support local libraries.
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Stacy Z.

Yelp
Saying that Ithaca's big on reading is a bit like saying that rocks sort of hurt when someone throws them at you. That said, the Friends of the Library Book Sale is a bi-annual event that I look forward to every October and May. (And each time, I act like a kid in a candy store.) I've gotten everything from SAT practice books, trashy chick lit (Bridget Jone's Diary, anyone?), even trashier movie soundtracks, extensive biographies of members of the Tudor family, and Japanese comic books from the book sale. It's amazing because I walk in with the intention of buying maybe a French verb book and coming out with about forty other things for less than $15. It's worth noting that if you're a fan of children's lit, there are always tons of old copies of Sweet Valley High and the Babysitters Club book. I should know because I used to buy them from there in bulk when I was in elementary school.
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Kenny L.

Yelp
If you live in Ithaca, you have to make this your biannual tradition. After I've shopped here for all kinds of books, including classics such as Steinbeck and Hemingway, comics, cookbooks, records, etc, you'll never look at an ordinary used bookstore the same way! The prices are ridiculously cheap as well, with books being cheaper (but gems harder to find) as the sale days passes. Forget about B&N and Borders. Come here and load up on books for the year and refill your shelves at the next sale. Also donate your books back to the library so that others can enjoy the same book you did!

Patrick J.

Yelp
It is a great book sale. I'm sure the best stuff gets scoffed up on day one (rarities, art books, first editions, etc). I came on day two and still found a few choice items. Their trade paperbacks and science fiction section offered a lot, though. So if you like books, you gotta go. You just gotta.
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Holly C.

Yelp
This book sale is amazing, it is all donated books. Its twice a year and some huge fans line up five days ahead and camp out for the one book their looking for. The prices are pretty good and it keeps getting cheaper as the days go on until the end of the sale. If you wait for the last day your not really gonna find anything good but its fill a grocery bag for $1. It is very organized by category and they also carry Cd's, movies, records, etc....
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Lisa S.

Yelp
It's dusty and musty and crowded...but it's wonderful. Ithaca is a reading town (check out the Family Reading Partnership and their great "Read to Me" banners all over town!) and the book sale is a tradition. You never know who you'll meet on line or what you'll find on the shelves. I especially recommend the book sale as THE place to stock up on paperback mysteries --- what a deal!
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Annabell S.

Yelp
This is what I call as book sale! But come with a (small) budget or you'll end up hauling your books home on a hand truck. (I'm serious-- I had to put some in storage)

Teresa Z.

Yelp
I love this book sale! I remember lining up for it when I was little so I could get my pick of all the babysitter club books. I took my boyfriend the first time he came to see my family in Ithaca, and it won him over more than anything else in town - even wegmans! To be terribly honest, I have lots of books from the sale I've never read and some that are so out of date that I want to hang on to them as historical artifacts. But I love going to the sale, the wonderful books I do read, and most of all, how excited I get to read because of the book sale.
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Tom T.

Yelp
Great place to browse, buy & sell! Things are quite cheap & most of the books are in surprisingly good condition! Don't miss this if you visit Ithaca.
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Chris H.

Yelp
Rating the greatest used book sale on earth less than 5Stars would seem to suggest a head injury. Whether you go early when trade paperback fiction is 2$ or late when everything is 1$ for an entire bag of books, this is a readers heaven.

Laura S.

Yelp
I'm a huge fan of used book sales, but this is like nothing I've ever seen before. The first year I lived in Ithaca, I woke up one Saturday and looked at a paper and said, "Oh, hey, there's a library book sale today; we should check it out." It was the first day of the sale. There were tents parked out front of the building from people who had CAMPED OUT THE NIGHT BEFORE to be first in line to the book sale. We stood in the line that snaked around the block for over an hour. Totally worth it. The collection is extensive, it's extremely well organized, and it's just plain thrilling to see people so excited about books. In later book sales (it's twice a year), I realized that if you're not looking for anything specific, it's better to go later in the sale (it runs for a few weekends), because the prices get cheaper each day Like 10 cent cheap. And you can still get a lot of fairly interesting books towards the end. Also, lines are shorter later in the sale - though still not nonexistent. I hated living in Ithaca. But, man, did I love this book sale.

Heather L.

Yelp
Possibly the greatest booksale in the country - no I'm not exaggerating! It's only twice a year, 3 weekends at a time, but there are literally hundreds of thousands of items at each sale. Not only books, but games, DVDs, CDs, records, audio books, collectors' items, postcards, etc. Volunteer-based, and proceeds to go the Tompkins County Public Library and other local literacy organizations. And everything is cheap.

Pixie O.

Yelp
I have been going to this sale twice a year for years. It was always an event not to be missed and even made the standard of being inscribed on my calendar. It was the "Big Kahuna" of book sales and took precedence over all other events in May and October. Then all of a sudden what you used to stand in lines for hours for was no more. It came without any warning. It is unfortunate that the "cream of the crop" of books is now sold by the library online so that they no longer reach the book sale. Everytime I go now to the sale I keep expecting what used to be and it is a real let down. You end up combing the shelves more thoroughly in disbelief. You come back more often during the weeks of the sale thinking maybe they haven't put the best books out yet.....to no avail. I know give it up already! I guess this is another tradition lost to progress. Bah Humbug!

Jaffre A.

Yelp
I'm an avid book reader and I can always find a book. There's always so much books. It's such an awesome place!