The Friends of the Park Ridge Library will host their annual Fall Book Sale on Saturday, Oct. 24, at the Park Ridge Public Library, 20 South Prospect Ave.
The sale runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the library's First Floor Meeting Room. Shelves will be stocked with recent fiction and nonfiction bestsellers, children's picture and chapter books, cookbooks, puzzles, board games, DVDs and CDs spanning jazz, classical, country and rock.
The nonprofit group contributes more than $20,000 annually to the library.
A Half-Price Sale kicks things off Monday, Oct. 19, from noon to 2 p.m. Friends members get early access at a Members-Only Preview Night on Friday, Oct. 23, from 4 to 7 p.m. Memberships start at $25 for an individual and can be purchased online or at the door. New members receive a $5 discount voucher for the sale.
"The Fall Book Sale is one of my favorite weekends of the year, because it's really a community gathering disguised as a sale," Ron Stempkowski, co-president of the Friends of the Park Ridge Library, said in a library announcement. "You'll see families, students, collectors and longtime readers all digging through the same tables …"
Sales have been climbing. Last fall's sale brought in $5,725 despite losing a third of its usual floor space to an HVAC project, according to November 2025 Library Board minutes. The spring sale in May raised nearly $7,500, and a pop-up sale during the Taste of Park Ridge on July 11 netted $1,200, a one-day record for the group.
After the books are packed up, Patina Wine Bar & Bistro at 112 South Prospect Ave. will host a "Wine, Dine & Donate" fundraiser on Wednesday, Oct. 28, from noon to 10 p.m. Diners who mention the Friends of the Library when ordering will send a percentage of their bill to support library programming. Online orders should use the code FRIENDS26.
Stempkowski said in the announcement that the restaurant fundraiser gives residents another way to pitch in, noting that not everyone has shelf space for more books but everyone has to eat.
Upcoming community events
- Monday, Oct. 19: Half-Price Book Sale, noon–2 p.m., Park Ridge Public Library
- Friday, Oct. 23: Members-Only Preview Night, 4–7 p.m., Park Ridge Public Library
- Saturday, Oct. 24: Fall Book Sale, 9 a.m.–3 p.m., Park Ridge Public Library
- Wednesday, Oct. 28: Wine, Dine & Donate at Patina Wine Bar & Bistro, noon–10 p.m.
- Saturday, Nov. 7: Book Club Mixer with author Hayley Gelfuso ("The Book of Lost Hours"), Park Ridge Public Library
