The Joy of Books

Planned Parenthood’s Annual Used Book-a-Thon Shines Again

By Jean Yamamura | September 9, 2021

If Planned Parenthood were to write a manual on How to Run a Used-Book Sale, chapter one would be titled “Volunteers.” For the past 47 years, the Santa Barbara branch has held a hugely successful autumn book sale through the help of its dedicated volunteers — roughly 200 of them. All year long, people work at the nonprofit’s Goleta warehouse, offering their time, talent, and muscle to sort, categorize, price, and sometimes reject the thousands of donated used books that members of the community have dropped off at the Red Shed. It’s an enormous project.

The Red Shed, which sits outside the warehouse, is open all year long to receive the boxes and bags of books — even during the 366 days of the 2020 leap year. The 10-day used-book sale, which will open on Thursday, September 16, at the Earl Warren Showgrounds, is highly anticipated by book lovers around the Central Coast.

Last year, during the height of the pandemic, the sale was held at the Goleta warehouse under strict health precautions. But even though it was shortened to only a few days with a limited number of people allowed in at a time, loyal customers patiently waited for hours in lines that snaked around the building for a chance to buy books at very low cost.