Booth Book Sale Turns 50 in July

The Friends of the C.H. Booth Library will hold its 50^th Annual Book Sale from July 10-14 at Reed Intermediate School, 3 Trades Lane in Newtown. This popular event is the Friends’ biggest fundraiser in support of Newtown’s C.H. Booth Library. What began in 1975 as a single table of books has grown into a multiday event recognized as one of the largest and best organized used book sales in the United States.

To celebrate the sale’s half-century mark, the Friends are offering special discounts. Admission for the Friday afternoon preview sale will be reduced 50% to just $20. Saturday admission remains at $5.00 but the Saturday-only purchase discount coupon has increased 50%--from $2.00 to $3.00. “We want to share this milestone with everyone in the community and beyond who loves books and loves the Booth Library,” says Denise Kaiser, chair of the annual book sale.

The 2026 sale kicks off on Friday July 10 from 1 pm to 5 pm. The admission fee is $20 and attendance will be capped at 250. Tickets go on sale at noon at Reed Intermediate.

The sale continues on Saturday July 11 from 10 am to 5 pm. The admission fee is $5.00 and shoppers can use the $3 coupon available in Friends advertising and on its website, boothbooksale.org.

Discounted prices start on Sunday July 12, when all items, except current-year tee shirts, are 25% off. Sales hours are 10 am to 5 pm, giving the entire family an opportunity to shop for bargains.

All prices will be reduced to 50% on Monday July 13. Sale hours will be extended from 10 am to 7 pm for the convenience of customers who prefer to shop in the evening.

Tuesday is “Free Day,” and the venue will be open from 10 am to 1 pm.

The 50^th annual sale comes on the heels of what has been a challenging year for the Friends. A major HVAC renovation at the C.H. Booth Library required the Friends to vacate its space in the library last August and run its donation operations from its offsite storage facility until mid-May. “We are grateful to the many donors who found us in our temporary location, but we have likely received fewer donated materials than last year,” Kaiser acknowledges. She notes that the items to be offered at the sale will be at the same high quality, offered at the same prices, and set up as conveniently as ever. Shoppers will also find the usual large contingent of trained volunteers eager to assist patrons and to help with speedy and efficient check-out.

The 2026 sale will feature approximately 100,000 books, jigsaw puzzles, video games, CDs, DVDs and vinyl LPs filling three rooms at Reed Intermediate.The floor plan has been improved slightly from previous years so patrons will want to consult maps of the sale areas available on-site and posted in advance on the Friends’ website, boothbooksale.org.

Books will be organized into 90 categories, including children’s (arranged by reading level), and popular adult categories like mystery, science fiction, romance, thriller, graphic novels and manga, as well as classical and current adult fiction.

Prices on adult books start at $1.00 (small mass-market paperbacks) to $3.00 (trade paperbacks and most hardcover) and up, depending on the title and condition. Children’s books start at 50 cents, but most fall in the 75-cent to $2.00 range. Media prices (CDs, DVDs and LPs, including many collectible items) start at $1.00 per disc, with brand-new DVDs only $3.00. Jigsaw puzzles, all of which have been checked for completeness by Friends volunteers, are priced between $2.00 and $10.00.

The Specials Room will be located in Room 201 just off the entry lobby at Reed. The eclectic collection ranges from rare books of higher value to especially attractive books bound in leather or decorative covers; sought-after graphic novels and manga; well-priced ephemera and unusual children’s books, CDs and DVDs. Among the offerings this year are a number of unusual antiquarian books (16^th-18^th centuries), silver medallions and US currency, books signed by noted figures, and a selection of other items that rarely come on the market.

A list of highlights in the Specials Room will be posted at boothbooksale.org in late June and then updated right before the book sale starts.

Reed Intermediate is air conditioned and has plentiful parking right in front, with overflow parking available behind the building and on the Fairfield Hills campus across Wasserman Way. On Saturday and Sunday hungry shoppers can refuel at Newtown’s Scout Troop 70’s popular refreshment tent in front of the main entrance to the school.

For more details and updates about the sale, visit boothbooksale.org.