Friends of the Berkeley Public Library

Vast selection. Decent prices. I do like to get books for myself here. My real hobby is finding books that sell for a lot of money online. That is hard here since there are a lot of scouters here as well and the store sells the real finds on the stores amazon page for high prices. Don’t blame them, just makes the finds a little harder here.

You can find a fantastic books here for expensive prices. I found the art book full-​sized and paid five dollars for it. If you love books it’s amazing what you can find there. When my son was little I love her to go there to get kids books. Although I couldn’t find any in French. But there are defined everywhere.

I am the owner of Bay Area Professional Organizer Co and have used Friends of the Library for book donation pick-​up for various clients. They have always been amazing! Super helpful, great customer service and Volunteer John was phenomenal in scheduling a quick pick-​up.

For a bibliophile like me, this place is on point. Every time I go in there I find best sellers, classics, obscurities and oddities, comic books, philosophy books, and just general nerdiness all for under 3 $ each. Last time I went there I bought a hardcover collection of h. g wells stories for 3 $. Impressive. I also got a copy of one of my favorite books of all time, «Everything is Illuminated,» for a buck! Plus, they keep the free cart out during business hours. I am an eBay seller and I found a book about antiques appraisal on the free cart. What a nice find!

Had a wonderful time browsing. Great choices, great volunteers, great reason to buy more books!

Unbelievable prices, lots of books like new. And the proceeds support a crucial public service.

I almost don’t want to review this place, so I can keep the great finds to myself! This bookstore sells mostly donated books to benefit the Berkeley Public Library. Most of the books are used, and sell at very low prices. Some new releases are placed on a counter by the checkout counter, and cost less than half of what they would at other stores.
I picked up Dorie Greenspan’s Baking with Julia here for a mere five bucks! I have also found books by some of excellent authors in the $ 0.50 shelf near the front– David Sedaris, Michael Ondaatje, Jhumpa Lahiri, Dan Chaon, David Guterson. Outside of the clearance section, you’ll find a large selection of books priced at $ 2 – 3. There’s a good amount of fiction and non-​fiction, plus a few DVDs and CDs. There’s also a children’s corner. I picked up a used copy of Harry Potter for my little sister, though I was tempted to keep that one, too!
The store is volunteer-​run and the folks at the counter will tell you more about the books you’re buying, or share their own recommendations. There’s also a small reading area near the entrance to the shop where you can sit and browse.
This is one of my favorite spots near campus. There’s nothing like a good book after a bad day (or even a good one!). This isn’t somewhere to go if you’re looking for a particular title, but you’re sure to find a few great, cheap books if you stop in.

I swore I wrote a review for this place years ago, but I guess I never did. I know I debated writing a review for this place, if only because I feel like this is MY bookstore, and I don’t want to share it with ANYONE.
It’s a hidden away gem on the street level of the Channing Street Garage. Being a Friends of the Library bookstore, all proceeds (so far as I know anyway) go back into helping the Berkeley library system. They have an eclectic mix of just about any genre you can think of, with prices ranging anywhere from $ 0.50 to $ 3.00. I’ve built my personal library from the ground up with purchases from this bookstore.
You don’t always leave with something — some days, all you’ll find are copies of books you already own, or there simply isn’t anything here that catches your attention. But I feel that it’s still worth perusing through. You never know when you’ll stumble across THAT BOOK that you need to complete your collection.
This is seriously my FAVORITE bookstore. Even above Half Priced Books. Sure, there’s a bigger selection there, but only because THIS bookstore runs on donations, not buybacks. Whenever I’m in Berkeley, I make sure that I make a pit stop here.

really, really pricey for a public library store! yikes! ok books but, i won’t be back do not expect to find any gems they sell the gems online.

I love this bookstore. It is hard to find, but worth it. Not the best space, as it has no windows, but it is spacious and is furnished with antique furniture no longer used in the library. It is easy to imagine some old stuffy professor working in this big stuffy room. They have a large selection of used books carefully shelved by topic. Good prices and pleasant volunteers. I recommend it as a first stop if you are looking for a book. Parking is not easy in this area, so it is best to walk, bike, or take public transportation.

wow… I paid $ 2.50 for a new-​looking hardcover copy of Water for Elephants. I am definitely going to come back. All of their books are in really good condition and are so, so cheap. They also have a huge selection of books and genres. Definitely a must-​visit if you’re looking for some books to read!
They accept cash and local checks

This is a great used bookstore. It’s volunteer-​run and the staff are always very nice and helpful. While it’s true that some sections are pretty small (Sci-​Fi/​Fantasy, for example), they do have a nice selection of interesting books and I rarely go in without leaving with some great little treasure. The prices are hard to beat. Even better, every purchase helps support the Berkeley Public Library! Really, what’s not to love?

This place is great! It’s a cheap little used bookstore and things are pretty organized in here. The staff is friendly and I love to go here on a day where I have some free time so I can just browse around a bit. great location too.

Full Disclosure: I volunteer at the store, so you could say I’m biased if you wanted to. I was prompted to write to correct a couple of details in the older reviews. We are no longer in what we used to call the «armpit» of the Sather Gate Mall, but in a spacious, well lit, modern location in the same mall. Also, although we do have a few (VERY few) library discards, the vast majority of our books are individually donated.
Now that I’ve said that, I also wanted to say that this store is the BEST! If you’re a book lover you should be a regular visitor. We get hundreds of donated books every week so the stock is always changing. I think our prices are the lowest anywhere. AND, all proceeds benefit the Berkeley Public Library.
By the way, thanks for the nice words about the all volunteer staff. We love books — all of us — and we love to see our books go to a good home.

This is my favorite place to buy books. It’s large. They have lots of books donated by the well read people of Berkeley (and surrounding areas). And they’re cheap! Of course, you can’t get any book that you want because they are used. But every time I go in there, I buy four or five. It’s great and when you’re finished you can donate them back.

Friends’ library was an unexpected find. it’s on the street level of the complex that house a parking complex. once inside, i found books separated by categories. just check out the business, economics, and social studies section. small but some interesting titles available. lexus and olive tree available (friedman, 3) armed madhouse (palast, 3?
reads:
–the accidental theorist, paul krugman (2.50)
–growing up in chinatown. lee (2)
–if the gods had meant us to vote, they would have
given us candidates, jim hightower (2)
loose leafs:
–cheaper than goodwills’ books!, also more variety
–categorized books makes it easy to find books.
–no way this place can be confused with Revolution Books across from them.
–friendly ladies at checkout.

Friendly staff and outstanding prices mark this used bookstore. Selection is fair and the space is nice and well organized.

I like supporting public libraries, so this was a must stop for me. While its not the place to find the latest new books or a huge variety of non-​bestsellers or mass market books, if you just want a copy of a popular fiction or non-​fiction paperback for 50-​cents or a hardcover for $ 1 to $ 5, this is a great place to visit.
As an additional bonus, if you spend $ 5 or more they will validate your parking in the Telegraph/​Durant public garage which depending on how long you have been parked, can be worth more than the $ 5 you spend and you have a few new books to read.

I almost don’t want to expose others to this place so that there will be more diamonds in the rough for me, but this place has so many gems I may as well share.
For $ 20, you can pretty much start and end a collection of cookbooks. My prized pick-​up: Mrs. Lincoln’s Boston Cookbook. Written in 1883, but I think this is a revised edition… yet the earliest date I can find even then is 1915… It may really be that old. It looks like it. How much was it? $ 3.50. And that’s the most expensive thing I bought during that journey.
I also picked up Larousse Gastronomique for like $ 4. This is a freaking encyclopedia bible to everything food-​related.
Must go back.
Oh and the colored dots on the sides of the books… I think are based off of their own organization scheme. The prices are inside of the books. The white dots means its a new arrival though.
Enjoy and don’t come to often for my sake.

This is my FAVORITE bookstore in the whole world! It’s even better than random 50cent used book sales you might find on the corner, simply because the selection is so vast.
This place was my little secret all throughout college. As an English major, I was able to get most of the books I needed for classes for a teeny FRACTION of what they cost elsewhere – even considerably cheaper than
because you don’t have to pay shipping.
Been going here for years now and I must say, it’s a delight! Now they’ve expanded and the store front got a makeover, so people are more likely to stop by – Bummer for those of us who felt like it was our personal little store :(Still, I love reading and I love a good bargain, so it’s a perfect place to make my day.
Books are super cheap, staff is friendly, money goes to a great cause.
In fact, after writing this, I think I may stop by there now, lol.