When it comes to the idea of an eBook, many fans of the devices cite convenience as the main draw. Books — any book you want — are delivered right to your handheld machine, any time of the day or night. You can shop from the comfort of your own home and at the press of a button, have the latest best seller open to page 1.

Detractors of such devices talk about exactly that — page 1, or the lack thereof. Part of the reading experience is the physical act of turning a page, the weight of a book in one’s hands.

Regardless of your preference, be aware that today is the last day to take advantage of the best of both worlds: the convenience of having thousands of real books at your fingertips, with the bonus of those books having really, really inexpensive price tags.

The Friends of Brown Library book sale is wrapping up the four-day event today at the Washington Civic Center. On this last day of the sale, you can either pay regular prices or you can cram as many books into a (provided) plastic grocery bag and pay a whopping $5 for the entire bag.

Regular prices are $2 for hardbacks, $1 for quality paperbacks and 50 cents for paperbacks. Either way you shop it, it’s convenient and cheap and has the added benefit of raising money to pay for good stuff at the library — stuff you can access for free. And stuff the library might not be able to afford otherwise.

So attending the book sale, paying ridiculously low prices for books, ultimately benefits you if you happen to be one of the many who do take advantage of Washington’s public library.

Get books you want. Support the library. It’s a win-win kind of event.

 

The book sale runs from noon to 3 p.m. today.