UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The State College branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) will hold its 58th annual used book sale May 11-14 in the Snider Agricultural Arena, across from Beaver Stadium and the Central Pennsylvania Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, on Penn State’s University Park campus. The sale will run from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. 

More than 250,000 sorted books, priced to sell, will be available for purchase. The sale is organized into 30 different departments, including arts, biography, children, collectors, fiction, history, hobbies, humor and pop culture, literature, mystery, science and engineering, sports, travel, and more. Textbooks are limited to books that are five years old or less.

Sale highlights include approximately 25,000 children’s books; a biography section that is 50 percent larger than last year; a newly expanded games and puzzles area; thousands of mint-condition comics, with more than 1,000 individual titles; an abundance of sheet music; a Special Collections Room, featuring some real treasures for book aficionados; and Penn State LaVie yearbooks going back several decades.

Monday, May 13, will be Half-Price Day, and Bag Day will be held on Tuesday, May 14, when a bag of books may be purchased for $7. Shoppers may bring their own bag to fill. Payment is by cash or checks. 

As a reminder to shoppers, safety regulations limit the total number of people in the Snider Agricultural Arena at any one time to 450 people. This protects shopper safety and increases shopper enjoyment. Sale perimeters may not be used by customers for temporary storage. While many shoppers tend to come first thing Saturday morning, a wide selection of books will be available all four days.  

The book sale is the result of generous donations of books from the community. AAUW State College members have worked since last June at the group’s Used Book Workshop in Boalsburg to prepare the books for the four-day sale. Almost all sale proceeds are used locally for scholarships for returning adult women students and grants for community projects and programs that reflect AAUW's mission to advance equity for women and girls. Learn more at www.aauwstatecollege.org.