[Image via.]

Well, the 44th annual Big Book Sale hosted by the Friends of the Public Library started yesterday, but have no fear — the sale will continue today and tomorrow from 10 to 8, and on Sunday from 10 to 6. All books on Sunday will be priced down to $1 or less! The Friends contend that it’s the largest book sale on the West Coast, and I’d believe it. It’s being held, as usual, at lovely Fort Mason, in the Festival Pavillion. Just go to Fort Mason — you can’t miss it!

This sale is truly staggering, by the way. The picture above is of last year’s sale, and it nicely conveys the scope. (It comes from this great post on the anonymous blog, Tea & Cookies.) You could easily pick up a year’s reading for less than $50. Normally I’m such a restrained person in bookstores: because of the relatively high cost of new books, I almost never purchase one unless I’m certain I will benefit from it. Fifteen bucks per paperback adds up, never mind hardcovers! But at library book sales, all prudence goes out the window. Not only are the books cheap, but according to the Friends page, all the proceeds “fund education programs that promote literacy for children, teens and adults. Last year, over $250,000 was raised for San Francisco’s libraries.” How can you resist that? It’s a license to splurge. Last year my wife and I took public transportation specifically to limit the amount we could bring home, and we still ended up staggering up the big hill to our house with a huge bag stuffed with books. But it was worth it, I think. I’d be more certain of that if I could still remember what we bought.