With a bag brimming with books and a wish list containing names of her and her mother’s favorite authors and novels, Novato native Christine Strandberg browsed for books at downtown Novato’s the Book Place on Saturday.

The 55-year-old, who grew up in Novato but now lives in Windsor, shopped at the Grant Avenue store for its triannual half-price clearance sale being held through Sunday.

She said she has shopped more than five years at the store “because I’m a bargain hunter and I like the thrill of the hunt, you know, for the good books — for treasures, for gifts.”

For 14 years, the Book Place, run by the Friends of the Marin County Library, a nonprofit supporting the county library system, has sold books, DVDs, CDs and other media at heavily discounted prices. The shop also brings in more than $40,000 each year for the county library system’s 10 branches across Marin.

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The goal for the bookstore this fiscal year is to bring in $45,500 to fund the county library system’s summer learning program, Spanish materials and other programs.

“We support the children’s summer reading program, which this past summer had about 7,000 kids participating in the program,” said Barbara Madrid, manager of the Book Place. “This year we also are supporting the STEM program, and that’s science, technology, engineering and math. And then of course we support One Book One Marin, the countywide reading program where one book is chosen by all the libraries together. There are events and talks that correspond with that.”

Despite being a downtown Novato fixture for more than a decade, Madrid said many are still unaware of the existence of the store.

The store serves as the largest funding source for the Friends of the Marin County Library, Madrid said. And with libraries now operating as 24-hour operations, with e-books and online research systems available at all times, library officials hope to bring more support to the system.

The store, which is open seven days a week, offers 45 various book categories, including a children’s room.

Not including the on-going sale, prices on books range between $3 to $4. Children’s books cost up to $1. Children who purchase 12 books over a period of time get their 13th book free.

The store operates on volunteer time only. Roughly 125 volunteers staff the store regularly.

“We have volunteers who do once a month 3 to 4 hours, and people like myself that do 25 to 30 hours a week,” Madrid said. “I’m a little crazy in that respect.”

Martha Nelson, a retired nursing and health science professor at Dominican University of California, volunteers roughly three hours a month, shelving books, ringing up sales and organizing the store.

“I’ve always liked books,” Nelson said. “My background is education and I thought this would be a good place to volunteer. It’s fun because I can come in and look at the books and get to know people.”

The Book Place collects materials it sells by collecting donated books, sheet music and other items from the public. More than 2,000 items are dropped off every two weeks, Madrid said.

Items are sorted through, with some donated to other organizations, and the remaining materials organized and shelved.

Madrid said it is imperative community members support not only their local libraries but also the Book Place.

“People should support the store because we provide monetary assistance to our libraries — libraries are not what they used to be,” she said.

Joseph Pulos, of Richmond, shopped at the store for the third day in a row, along with his 94-year-old mother Dee Pulos, on Saturday.

“I like Southwest materials — the arts and stuff,” Joseph Pulos, 60, said. “(My mom’s) the one who really loves to read. Go to our house, or her house. The walls are covered with books downstairs. We need more book space, that’s what it comes down to.”

Corrie Johnson, of San Rafael, was shopping for books that could be used to read to underprivileged children at Marin Community Clinic.

“I mainly deal with kids that can’t afford new books and don’t really know about bookstores, used-bookstores,” Johnson said. “It used to be easier to find. You could go to thrift stores and find books for kids, but not so much anymore. It’s more libraries doing it now.”