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Favorite Freebies Friday: Bay Area Free Book Exchange

In honor of the recession and my own brokeness (new word?), here's a new segment I'm calling Favorite Freebies Friday. Every Friday I'll share my favorite deals and bargains here. Some will be local to the SF Bay Area and some will be everyone with access to the Internet. If you have any suggestions, please pass them along. Without further ado, our first official Favorite Freebie is:

Bay Area Free Book Exchange

-- El Cerrito, CA

Yes. Free.

What:

Imagine walking into a bookstore and taking up to 100 books home without paying for them. Sound too good to be true? This is the fabulous concept behind the project known as the

Bay Area Free Book Exchange

. In 2009 a band of benevolent booksellers started this co-op to provide free books to their community. How does it work? People can donate books lying around their houses that they no longer need, and the store owners make them available for others to take home. The store owners pay the rent and utility bills by keeping a few of the donated books and selling them on Ebay.

Where

: 10520 San Pablo Avenue; El Cerrito, CA 94530; (510) 705-1200

When

: Open every weekend, Saturday and Sundays from 9am to 6pm.