Anderson Township book sale offers 30,000 items Nov. 5-7

Anderson Township's largest book sale returns Nov. 5 with more than 30,000 items priced mostly between $1 and $5.

The Anderson Township Library Association (ATLA) holds its Holiday Book Sale Thursday, Nov. 5, through Saturday, Nov. 7, at the Comboni Missionaries gym at 1318 Nagel Road. The sale features gently used books, gifts, puzzles, games, collectibles and other media, according to the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library's blog.

Proceeds go directly to special programs at the Anderson and Mt. Washington branch libraries. ATLA donated $50,000 to the library system in 2025, bringing the all-volunteer group's total contributions past $1.1 million since 1985, according to the association's page on the library website.

The sale has come a long way. Jeanne Sheppard, an ATLA volunteer with 40 years of service, told fellow volunteer Annie DiMario in an interview on the library blog that the whole effort started in the early 1980s. A group of young mothers held a sale in someone's garage to raise money for landscaping at the new Anderson branch. That first sale brought in about $1,000.

"That gave them the motivation to keep on going, and it grew amazingly!" Sheppard said.

The group formalized as a nonprofit and earned 501(c)(3) status. ATLA was originally formed in 1979 as the Anderson Library Committee to promote a new branch in the township. It now holds two sales a year, in June and November, staffed entirely by volunteers who meet weekly year-round to sort donated books and other items.

Sheppard recalled one couple who drove from Tennessee after finding the sale on social media. They made four trips between the tables and their car, loading up books they planned to distribute free to schools and churches in underserved areas back home.

Sale hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Cash, checks, credit cards and Apple Pay are accepted. Parking is free, the site is accessible and volunteers can help carry purchases to cars.

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