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Basement Cleanout Sale
PastCommunity EventBook FairFictionNon-FictionJuvenile FictionFree

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Annual Basement Cleanout Sale!

Past event

About This Event

As part of the Andersonville Sidewalk sale, we’ll be having our annual "Basement Clean-out Sale" benefiting the Women’s Voices Fund ! The sale runs from 11 AM to 5 PM on Saturday, July 25th and Sunday, July 26th. Swing by, say hi, and peruse a massive collection of super cheap books! We'll have fiction, nonfiction, art books, advanced reading copies, and kids book all priced at $5 to $10 suggested donations. Plus, this year we promise to have loads of new books on Sunday for those who can't make it on the first day. All proceeds benefit the Women's Voices Fund , our non-profit arm that makes possible all of our events and programming all year-round. Cash & card accepted. Or until we run out of books!

About the Venue

Women & Children First on top of red brick building with purple awnings.

Women & Children First

Women & Children First believes in the transformative power of literature. As intersectional trans-inclusive feminists, we believe books are tools for liberation. Since 1979, we have celebrated and amplified underrepresented voices.

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More at Women & Children First

Nov4
Story TimeAndersonville, Chicago

Weekly Morning Storytime!

10:30 AM • Wednesday, November 4, 2026Women & Children FirstFree

Join us for Weekly Morning Storytime! Doors open at 10:15 a.m. and the program begins at 10:30 a.m. This is one half hour of stories, songs, and finger plays designed for ages 2 and up, but kids of all ages are welcome! Storytime is led by a rotation of seasoned readers and performers including teaching artist Miss Ruby and W&CF co-founder Miss Linda! Suggested donation of $3/kid.Featured Performers: Ruby Gibson (she/her) is a teaching artist, actor, and playwright who loves to tell stories full of music and magic! Since graduating from Northwestern University in 2022, she has worked with PlayMakers Laboratory, Chicago Children's Theatre, and Evanston Public Library as a teacher and performer. As a playwright, her adaptation of The Little Prince was developed for young audiences across Chicagoland with Improv Playhouse and the Actors Gymnasium. When she’s not playing pretend, you can find Ruby baking, gardening, or reading young adult fantasy novels.Miss Linda is the co-founder of Women & Children First, Chicago's feminist bookstore since 1979! Linda has led kids storytime for more than three decades! Now retired from running the bookstore, she spends her days reading whatever she wants, babysitting several amazing kids in the area, and following the Chicago Sky! She also continues to facilitate the Women's Book Group on the third Tuesday of every month.

Nov8
susan stryker event
Author EventGenderAndersonville, Chicago

Offsite: Susan Stryker at Gerber/Hart LGBTQ+ Library & Archive - SOLD OUT

2:00 PM • Sunday, November 8, 2026Women & Children FirstFree

We are excited to be the bookseller for an event with Susan Stryker at Gerber/Hart LGBTQ+ Library & Archives! Registration is required for this free event. Register through Gerber/Hart's Eventbrite page. Join us at Gerber/Hart LGBTQ+ Library & Archives for a conversation with Susan Stryker about her new book, Changing Gender Gerber-Hart Library and Archives will host the acclaimed author and historian Susan Stryker for a discussion of her new book, Changing Gender on Sunday November 8 at 2pm. Stryker will sit down for a public interview with Loyola University Chicago historian Michelle Nickerson to talk about the book and how it can help us understand and reckon with the challenges facing the LBGTQ+ community in the current political landscape. Seating is limited - RSVP for a seat here. Doors will open at 2pm to welcome registered participants to a reception in the Gerber Hart’s Raffety/Tran Community Room. Visitors can visit the library reading room (and perhaps find a LGBTQ+ book to check out) and exhibit space while enjoying a beverage and bite. At 3pm the event will start in the Atrium with introductory remarks. Audience Q and A will follow. Staff from Women & Children First Books will also be on site selling copies of Changing Gender for purchase at the event. Sponsored by the Gannon Center for Women and Leadership’s Ann F. Baum Speaker Series and the Departments of History and Women’s Studies & Gender Studies at Loyola University Chicago RSVPS required for this free event.

Nov9
bad company sara paretsky
Book SigningMysteryAndersonville, Chicago

Bad Company: A Thriller by Sara Paretsky

7:00 PM • Monday, November 9, 2026Women & Children FirstFree

We're excited to host the book launch party for Sara Paretsky in celebration of the release of Bad Company: A Thriller. The date of this event is especially auspicisous as it coincides with Women & Children First's 47th birthday! We've had the honor of hosting Sara for nearly every book she's published throughout her prolific career; we're thrilled to welcome her back once more for this book-signing and conversation with mystery writer Lori Rader-Day!