Welcome to Friends of the Albany Library!
FRIENDS OF THE ALBANY LIBRARY (FAL)
The Friends’s purpose is to benefit the library by selling books and other materials in the library, on the Internet, and during on-site book sales. Please go to the Benefit Page to see the types of ongoing events and items that FAL supports. FAL operations and most of our sales take place at 1247 Marin Ave, Albany CA 94706.
Call us at 510.526.3720 during library open days/hours, after selecting a language option, wait for the option to reach Friends of the Albany Library to leave a message as our office is not “staffed”. Leave a message and we’ll call you back. You can also reach us by email at friendsalbany@yahoo.com any time.
For more information about the Albany Branch of the Alameda County Library including open days/hours, visit Albany | Alameda County Library (aclibrary.org) The next upcoming library closures are Thursday, October 9, Alameda County Library All Staff Meeting and Tuesday, November 11, Veterans Day. The Albany Library is closed on Fridays.
POP UP ONE DAY BOOK SALE
A big thank you to the City, Library, Library Staff, Friends of the Albany Library Volunteers and Library Patrons! The Friends of the Albany Library Pop Up Book Sale in the patio on Saturday, September 27 was a great success! The sale generated $923.50 in sales. Thank you to everyone who purchased books!
FRIENDS OF THE ALBANY LIBRARY ANNUAL MEETING ON SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26 AT 1:30 PM
We are excited to announce our Annual Meeting on Sunday, October 26 at 1:30pm in the Edith Stone Room. Below is information about the meeting.
- Agenda: Review and approve updated FAL Bylaws, FAL Officer vote and Featured Speaker Author Bonnie Tsui who will discuss her new book, On Muscle: The Stuff That Moves Us and Why it Matters.
- Link to updated FAL Bylaws: Updated Friends of Albany Library Bylaws
Featured Speaker – Bonnie Tsui
We are excited to announce our Annual Meeting Speaker, Bonnie Tsui! Bonnie Tsui is a longtime contributor to The New York Times and the author of the new book On Muscle: The Stuff That Moves Us and Why It Matters—a vivid, thought-provoking celebration of musculature and one of the most anticipated books of the year; it is currently being translated into six languages. Her bestselling books include Why We Swim, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice and a Time magazine and NPR Best Book of the Year, and American Chinatown, which won the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature. Her work has been recognized and supported by Harvard University, the National Press Foundation, the Mesa Refuge, and the Best American Essays series.
THE FALL BOOK SALE 2025 IS ON SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 8 & SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9!
Our next onsite Book Sale is scheduled for Saturday, November 8 and Sunday, November 9. We will update this site with Fall Book Sale details as we get closer to the date of the book sale.
In the meantime, please continue to donate books to help us prepare and stock up for the November book sale. Before the Fall Book Sale, you can purchase books on the ongoing shelf sale in the library and online at Shop Friends of the Albany Library Books and Collectibles | AbeBooks: Eve’s Book Garden
Please note that revenues from past book sales starting in March 2020 through the most recent book sale are kept on the Sales Page: Sales Page
We will be looking for volunteers to assist in setting up, cashiering and cleaning up as we get closer to the sale date. As always, we appreciate your help, participation and book purchases! We can’t do it without you!
We look forward to seeing you at the Fall Friends Book Sale!
BOOK DONATIONS TEMPORARILY PAUSED UNTIL MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17
The Friends are pausing taking donations so that we can prepare for the huge fall book sale on Saturday, November 8 and Sunday, November 9. We look forward to seeing you at the book sale and also to receiving your donations again starting Monday November 17.
UPCOMING LIBRARY EVENTS SUPPORTED BY THE FRIENDS
We are happy to share a list of one-time library events supported by the Friends for the month of October.
Please go to the Friends Site Events Page for more detailed event information, including event time and location as well as registration requirements if applicable. The Friends Events Page also has a full list of ongoing events. The Friends Events Page can be reached by clicking here or on the Events in the Navigation Bar at the top of the page.
October One-Time Events Supported by the Friends
- Rockin’ Kids Singalong – Wednesday, October 1
- Portrait of Albany – Wednesday, October 1
- Papel Amate with Rachel-Anne Palacios – Saturday, October 4
- Family Music Lab –Sunday, October 5
- Teen Music Lab – Sunday, October 5
- Want Free Passes to Parks, Museums, Movies & More? Come to our Free eResources Workshops and Learn How to Get Access! Exploring Qello Concerts – Tuesday, October 7
- Rockin’ Kids Singalong – Wednesday, October 8
- Recognizing Latino Heritage Month – Santana’s Greatest Hits with Qello – Wednesday, October 8
- Kids Art Workshop with MOCHA – Saturday, October 11
- Family History Collage Workshop – Sunday, October 12
- Rockin’ Kids Singalong – Wednesday, October 15
- A Slightly Scary Storytime – Wednesday, October 15
- Albany Library’s Saturday Afternoon Book Club – Saturday, October 18
- Book’nic – Reading Picnic – Sunday, October 19
- Create Against Hate – Sunday, October 19
- Want Free Passes to Parks, Museums, Movies & More? Come to our Free eResources Workshops and Learn How to Get Access! Exploring Qello Concerts – Tuesday, October 21
- Read to a Dog – Tuesday, October 21
- Rockin’ Kids Singalong – Wednesday, October 22
- Little Dance Party – Thursday, October 23