The 33rd annual Bloomington Community Book Fair will take place next month, from Oct. 6-11, at the Monroe County Fair Grounds.
This year’s fair, coordinated by the Hoosier Hills Food Bank, will offer more than 90,000 books, CDs, DVDs, LP records, games, puzzles, stamps and coins, among other collectibles, according to a City of Bloomington Volunteer Network press release.
“We are honored to be the new home of this beloved community event,” Ryan Jochim, volunteer coordinator of the food bank, said in the release.
Donations for the community event are accepted year-round at the food bank.Food trucks and other activities will be available at the fairgrounds during the six-day event as well.
Each day of the event has a different theme and different promotional incentives. This includes a Veterans Appreciation Day where all veterans are granted free admission to the event, a Family Day where free books are given to the first 100 children, a Color Vibe run one day, animal shelter adoptables and free spinal screenings another day.
“For more than 30 years, we’ve promoted a message of sustainability — that too much food is wasted and should instead be channeled to people at risk of hunger,” Jochim said in the release. “In many ways, the same is true of used books.”
[Look back at the 2015 Bloomington Community Book Fair]
Volunteers are needed to help set up and assist with staffing the event. During set-up, from Sept. 29 to Oct. 5, volunteers can set their own schedules between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., according to the release.
During sale days, shifts are three hours long. Volunteers work as runners, organizers, movers, greeters and in the holding area.
The minimum age to volunteer is 15 years old alone and 10 years old if with an adult or parental guardian, according to the release. If interested, perspective volunteers can register online or contact the food bank directly.
Opened in 1982, the Hoosier Hills Food Bank has been collecting, storing and distributing food to non-profit agencies feeding the hungry in Monroe, Martin, Owen, Orange, Brown and Lawrence counties in south central Indiana.
This year, the food bank distributed its 50 millionth pound of food, according the release.
All proceeds benefit the programs and services of Hoosier Hills Food Bank. Food donations are encouraged, and those who bring any donations will receive $1 off of their purchase.
“We can’t afford to be a throwaway society — not with food, not with books and certainly not with people,” Jochim said in the release.
Alyson Malinger
