Here Comes the Book Sale! 

That thump-thump-thump sound you’ve been hearing all week was made by more than 4,500 bankers’ boxes full of books landing on the floor at the Earl Warren Showgrounds Exhibit Hall. After nearly a year of collecting, sorting, grading, cleaning, and pricing books, the energetic volunteers of Planned Parenthood Book Sale have it open for business starting from Thursday, September 10 to Sunday, September 20 (see the box for the full schedule). This is the 52nd annual sale, named for former leader Mary Jane McCord, and more than 150,000 books, CDs, DVDs, vinyl, puzzles, and games will be spread on tables in the hall, priced to move. Last year’s sale set records for books sold and money raised, and organizers are primed to do it again.

“Here at the Book Sale,” says 2026 co-chair JoJo Snyder, “you’re going to find like-minded individuals who love to read … and a lot of bargains on books. The prices are phenomenal. They’re really low. And it’s so much fun and such a joy to see somebody find a book they were looking for, to see their eyes light up.” 

Volunteer Tristan Heather, a Dos Pueblos High senior, adds, “Hey, I mean, 10 books for under 25 dollars — you can’t beat that.”

The sale became more vital than ever in the past year-plus, thanks to the federal government slashing funding in 2025-26 for Planned Parenthood by disallowing it from accepting Medi-Cal. (Snyder actually calls her service at the Book Sale a form of “active protest” to this sort of thing.)

“Even though we are now able to bill for Medi-Cal, our fundraising efforts are still incredibly important,” said Lindsay Soleimani, vice president of philanthropy. “We fundraise year-round, and last year, we had to increase that — the book sale was a part of that increase in fundraising.”

Those funds go to help serve more than 30,000 patients on the Central Coast who need a wide variety of reproductive-health-related services. Volunteer Anna Fenscik speaks from experience, “I have been going to Planned Parenthood forever. When I didn’t have any money for anything else, when I didn’t have any doctors, they treated me.”

Along with the funds, the book sale is a big awareness raiser. “It promotes literacy and it really provides a resource for teachers,” adds Soleimani. “And the fact that it’s benefiting Planned Parenthood and gets that into people’s minds and homes makes it even better.” 

Volunteers collect books for the sale year-round. With most books priced at less than five dollars, the sale literally has something for everyone, from antiquarian rarities to Captain Underpants; from the latest best-selling novels to esoteric philosophy; from gardening, cooking, and design to animals, science, and art; from vampire-lover romantasy to devilish locked-room mysteries. More than 50 categories of books — fiction, nonfiction, and more — are laid out at the exhibit hall. Volunteers restock tables daily, so return visitors are sure to find gems that they missed the first time through. Bring big bags and leave time to browse. You never know what you might find.

Note: Donations of books, etc., will be accepted again starting October 1 at the Planned Parenthood Book Sale warehouse (5726 Thornwood Dr., Goleta).

THE BASICS

Except for opening night, September 10, every day at the Book Sale is FREE to enter.

Full schedule atbooksale.ppcentralcoast.org.

Thursday, September 10: 4-7 p.m. ($30 entry)

Fri.-Sun., Sept. 11-13: 10 a.m.-7 p.m.

Mon., Sept. 14: Noon-7 p.m.

Tue.-Fri., September 15-18: Noon-6 p.m.

Sat.-Sun., Sept. 19-20*: 10 a.m-6 p.m.

*This whole day (Sun, 9/20) is 50 percent off!! 

Secret Bonus: On Sunday, September 20, at 5 p.m., by showing the proper IDs, local teachers and nonprofit employees can come and take as many free books as they can lug away.

THE PEOPLE

More than 200 volunteers work all year long at a warehouse in Goleta to collect donated books (and more), sort and categorize them, and price and prep them for the sale. “It’s like a treasure hunt every time we show up to sort books,” several of them said. They come from a wide swath of life, but are united in their love of reading, Planned Parenthood, and community. Co-chair Amy Zak-Urban says that she started volunteering “for the books,” but as she got more involved, “I found that the people are so willing. These volunteers step up. You ask that something needs to be done, you blink, and it’s done.” 

Here are some thoughts from some of these book-loving folks:

Anna Fencsik: “It’s awesome. I love to talk to people and find out where they come from, what their interests are, show them books, and just see their faces when they find the books that they were looking for. This whole book sale organization is just so well planned and organized. I mean, after the many years I’ve been here, I still can’t get over that — how well we work together.”

Donald Polk: “I was looking for something to do in retirement. I’ve been a longtime supporter of Planned Parenthood, too. I tried a couple of other things that didn’t quite resonate. They just seemed too much like work! And then I found the book sale, and it’s been a great experience.”

Barbara Barr: Barbara’s first day of volunteering was actually at the 2025 Book Sale, not at the warehouse. “I fell in love with it right away. As a former elementary school teacher, helping a child find a book that they like was like a dream. At the book sale, people are sometimes just looking for one specific book. And we might have it, but also they come in and say, ‘You know, my kid really liked Treasure Island or Hatchet or something,’ so there’s the fun of connecting them with other books that their kids might like too.”

Jim Antenore: “The camaraderie of the volunteers, that’s number one. And number two, the community is so receptive to this and so appreciative of it. People come from really far away [to shop at the sale], and this is one of their most favorite things to do all year. And of course, it’s a great fundraiser for Planned Parenthood.”

Baby’s First Tattoo and Other Surprising Book Titles

A clipboard hangs on a wall in the Goleta warehouse where donated books are sorted by Planned Parenthood Book Sale volunteers. When these “rough sorters” find a book title worth remembering, they jot it down. Here are some of the most memorable from recent sorts:

• Extrasensory Healers in Bulgaria
• Butter My Butt and Call Me a Biscuit
• If You Give a Pig the White House
• How to Fossilize Your Hamster and Other Amazing Experiments for the Armchair Scientist
• Metaphors Be with You
• God’s Doodle: The Life & Times of the Penis
• Empty Brain, Happy Brain: How Thinking Is Overrated
• Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? And Other Questions About Dead Bodies
• Correct Mispronunciations of Some South Carolina Names
• The History of Farting

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