For avid readers, not much beats a good book — except a good book that was purchased at a great price.

If you are looking for such a bargain, you may want to make a trip to the Jefferson Civic Center this weekend.

The civic center, at 65 Kissam St., is site of the annual Friends of Jefferson Public Library book sale today and Saturday.

“There will be literally thousands of books for sale,” librarian Amy Carlan said. “We have kids and adult books, paperbacks and hardbacks.”

With many people choosing to cut more expensive entertainment to save money, the most budget-conscious person would be happy with the prices of books at the sale. Carlan said paperbacks will sell for around 50 cents, with hardbacks going for about $2.

“The books are mostly donations from the public, but we will also have some older books from the library’s collection,” Carlan said. “At first we stored the books for the sale at the library, but the collection got so big that we had to move them to the civic center for storage.” The sale runs from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Saturday.

If you need a jump-start to help wade through the bargains, coffee, baked goods and other refreshments will be on sale.

Besides helping to build shoppers’ personal libraries, the book sale also has other benefits.

“Proceeds from the book sale will be deposited into the friends of the library account and will be used to help fund some of our different programs and performances,” Carlan said.

Last fiscal year, the library sponsored more than 275 programs and events, including a summer reading program for children and several authors’ visits.

“We really need a new building,” Carlan said. “So the book sale will also help us raise money for that.”