Hoosier Hills Food Bank is organizing the 36th Annual Bloomington Community Book Fair at the Monroe County Fairgrounds from Oct. 3-8.
Jake Bruner, director of development at the food bank, said more than 100,000 items including books, DVDs, records and posters, most priced between $1-3, will be available at the book fair. He said all proceeds will benefit the food bank.
Admission is free, except on Oct. 3 when admission is $10 and will include a color guard ceremony. The book fair will be open 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Oct. 3-4, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Oct. 5-7 and 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Oct. 8.
Bruner said the book fair brings in significant revenue in the early fall, which is a critical time in terms of food and finances.
“What a lot of folks don’t realize is we’re really trying to prepare for the holidays around this time, trying to get a lot of food in our doors and to make sure that we’re stocked, and we can help out our agencies and the people they serve,” Bruner said. “This is kind of crunch time for us.”
Bruner said the resources the food bank collects are distributed to about 100 different agencies within Brown, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Owen and Orange counties across the state. He said they serve about 26,000 individuals annually.
“Food banks typically collect all the resources and then try to distribute them out throughout the community and the other counties that we serve, although we do have a couple of direct service programs,” Bruner said.
They serve places such as community kitches, Hubbard's Cupboard, Pantry 279, churchs, Boys & Girls Club and more.
Bruner said the food bank has a working relationship with IU groups that coordinate volunteers to help with events like the book fair. IU junior Kelsey Baird said she volunteered through her sorority, Alpha Gamma Delta. Baird said each sorority chooses one cause to volunteer for, and hers chose to join the fight against hunger.
“AGD in general, this is the philanthropy that we chose,” Baird said. “We do one certain philanthropy and focus on that to raise all our money.”
Patty Denison, a food bank book sorter and Bloomington resident, said in addition to IU students, local volunteers work year round behind the scenes to put together this event. Denison said she has sorted books every Thursday for the past three years to help the food bank.
“You just kind of box in one at a time,” Denison said. “When you see them all here, that you’ve worked on all year, it really is overwhelming.”
During her time sorting, Denison said she has seen a wide variety of books and materials.
“What you realize when you’re sorting books is that there’s really something for everyone,” Denison said. “Crafts, cooking, mysteries, sports, history, biographies, children’s books, puzzles. And it’s super inexpensive.”
Denison said she encourages people to come this week and consider volunteering at the food bank in the future.
“I think just to come out and see what this is about and the people that are involved, maybe you too will give a hand or lend a hand for the food bank, or consider it when there’s a food drive going on,” Denison said. “Come and find out what it’s about, and explore more.”
