It's the Super Bowl of used book sales
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The VNSA Used Book Sale at the Agriculture Center building at the Arizona State Fairgrounds. Photo: Jeremy Duda/Axios
If you're looking for heaps of used books at bargain-basement prices, you're in luck.
What's happening: The 66th VNSA Used Book Sale runs Saturday and Sunday at the Arizona State Fairgrounds at 19th Avenue and McDowell Road.
- Doors open at 8am both days, and the sale goes until 6pm Saturday and 4pm Sunday.
- It's free to get in, but the fairgrounds charge for parking.
Details: The Volunteer Nonprofit Service Association collects books all year long, culminating in its sale each February.
- More than half a million items will be on available, with most books between $1 and $4, though some are more.
- There are also magazines, board games, jigsaw puzzles, maps and "treasures," including old Valley yearbooks.
Be smart: Heidi Capriotti, a VNSA volunteer, gave Axios Phoenix some advice for shoppers:
- Expect a line. VNSA provides regular updates about wait times on its Facebook page, but if you're looking to get in quickly Saturday, Capriotti suggests arriving between 11am and 1pm.
- VNSA offers shopping carts, but they get scooped up quickly, so bring your own cart, wagon or bag.
- Almost everything is half-price on Sunday, and Capriotti says there's always tons of good stuff left.
What she's saying: "It's a treasure hunt. So come prepared to spend some time," Capriotti says.
2 good causes: The event usually generates about $400,000 in revenue, which goes to Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation and Literacy Volunteers of Maricopa County.
- VNSA and the sale are operated by volunteers, and the books are all donated.
The latest: Unlike in previous years, eager bookworms can't camp out overnight at the fairgrounds for a spot at the front of the line.
- Shoppers can start lining up at 5am on Saturday if they want first crack at the selection.
Our thought bubble: The VNSA Used Book Sale is my Super Bowl, and I go almost every year. This time around, they gave me a rare opportunity to do some early shopping, so I grabbed a cart and ran wild.
- I picked nearly two dozen books for myself, along with some Agatha Christie novels for my wife and some for my kids.
- I'm most excited about "The Anarchy," William Dalrymple's history of the East India Company; Kate Moore's "The Radium Girls," about the women who suffered poisoning in radium dial factories; "The Evening and the Morning" from Ken Follett's Kingsbridge series; and "América: The Epic Story of Spanish North America, 1493-1898," by Robert Goodwin.
- I also found a set of collector's edition metal playing pieces for Trivial Pursuit. I had no idea such a thing existed!
What's next: You can donate books and other items at drop boxes across the Valley, or call to have VNSA come pick them up for you.