The Friends of the C.H. Booth Library is hosting its 49th Annual Book Sale from Friday, July 11, through Tuesday, July 15, at Reed Intermediate School, 3 Trades Lane. Boston Globe Magazine recognized the annual sale as “one of the largest and most well-run book sales in the country” in the 2025 Spring Arts Preview. This event is the Friends’ biggest fundraising event to support the C.H. Booth Library. There will be around 120,000 items for sale, ranging from books to jigsaw puzzles, to CDs, DVDs, vinyl albums, and more.

The sale kicks off at 1 pm on Friday, July 11. Friday is a ticketed affair and will cost $40; attendance is capped at 200 and ticket sales start at 12 pm Friday.

On Saturday, admission is $5 and patrons aged 18 and under will have free admission. Ticket sales start at 9 am and the sale will officially open at 10 am and close at 5 pm. Sunday, July 13 starts the discount days at the sale, with all remaining items 25% off. The sale will be held from 10 am-5 pm. Monday, July 14, all remaining items will be marked 50% off, and the sale has extended hours from 10 am to 7 pm. The final day of the sale, July 15, is free day. All remaining items are free of charge and the sale runs from 10 am-1 pm.

The Friends want customers to know that “hungry shoppers can refuel at Newtown’s Scout Troop 70’s popular refreshment tent in front of the main entrance to the school.” Friends of the C.H. Booth Library president Nancy Dvorin said that she is also looking forward to the hot dogs from the local Troop.

The Books

“One thing that us really noteworthy this year is we received thousands of books from a local gentleman who was thinking of going into the bookselling business upon his retirement, changed his mind, and we were one of the many lucky recipients of his collection,” Dvorin shared with The Bee. “It literally was thousands.”

Dvorin said there is 50% more fiction books than the Friends usually have, adding that a lot of them are “very high quality.”

“Prices are low, low, low, despite tariff activity,” Dvorin joked.

John Renjilian, the special books coordinator, said that there are a lot of signed books available this year, one of which, though not signed by the author, has quite an interesting story.

The book “was presented by Amy Lowell, the poet, to her then travelling companion in memory of their six days in Constantinople, which must have been kind of neat days.” The book Lowell signed is Demetra Vaka’s Haremlik, printed in 1909. She signed it to her friend Barbara Higginson.

Denise Kaiser, Book Sale chairperson, said, “What is interesting about that is that Amy Lowell was quite famous poetess, and she would call herself a poetess, it’s not her book, but it’s insight into her private life and the many friends that she had from that Boston coterie of artists.”

Renjilian added that there is always “a scattering of Americana,” highlighting Klondyke Facts by Joseph Padua, which includes a complete, intact map of the Klondike region of Alaska from the gold rush of 1897.

Though these books may not be in the average shopper’s budget, $200 for the Lowell signature and $225 for Klondyke Facts, Kaiser pointed out that there are several other items that are reasonably priced.

She pulled out a beautiful, art deco cover of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. The purple cover will cost $8 on the sales floor. An 1871 copy of Jane Eyre. An Autobiography by Charlotte Bronte, or perhaps better known as her pen name Currer Bell, will also be available in the auxiliary gym.

“When the Brontes first published, they published under male nom de plumes,” Kaiser said. “These are not John level books,” she stressed, “it’s $25 at our sale. For somebody who is in love with Jane Eyre, this is now within reach.”

A nicely preserved, early copy of the book club edition of Animal Farm by George Orwell is also on sale for $8.

“This is books within reach,” Kaiser said.

More Than Books

Beyond the books on the floor, the Friends have a lot of other items to sell, including puzzles, games, and music.

Autographed and vintage playbills from Broadway show programs will be on the floor, including a signed The Music Man playbill with Lucille Benson’s, The Bilmacs’, and more signatures.

There will be several extensive stamp collections on the floor as well. Some highlights include several first-day covers from US First Day Covers, Postal Commemorative Society Celebrating the 20th Century first day cover special collection, and Reader’s Digest Champion of Sport.

“We have Springbok Puzzles, which apparently is a big deal,” Dvorin said, adding that the collection of puzzles this year is the largest assortment the Friends have had in years.

Adult books range from $1.00 (small mass-market paperbacks) to $3.00 (trade paperbacks and most hardcover) and up, depending on the title and condition. Children’s books start at 50 cents, but most fall in the 75-cent to $2.00 range. Media prices (CDs, DVDs and LPs, including many collectible items) start at $1.00 per disc, with brand-new DVDs only $3.00. Puzzles, all of which have been checked for completeness by Friends volunteers, are priced between $2.00 and $10.00.

For more information, visit boothbooksale.org to learn more and see more of the highlights from the Specials Room.

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Reporter Sam Cross can be reached at sam@thebee.com.