Friends of the Grand Rapids Area Library had a grand day indeed last Thursday, October 19. During the long-awaited MLA Conference in Prior Lake, representative Mary Jo Wimmer came away with the top prize in MALF’s annual Evy Nordley contest. It was no mean feat, either; MALF fielded a higher than average number of project entries from across Minnesota in the 2019 cycle.
Grand Rapids’ show-stopping project, “Pop-Up Book Sales,” stood a cut above the rest due to its innovative nature and great promise as both a sustainable and replicable fundraising model.
The reasoning behind organizers’ departure from the tried-and-true book sale model is simple yet profound. Over the past decade, reading habits have changed for a significant slice of bibliophiles. In this era of e-readers, trekking to the library or book store is no requirement – you can find materials from the comfort of your couch. With grassroots initiatives like Little Free Libraries, physical books and serendipitous discovery are attainable close to home, as well.
Pop up sales, held in a nontraditional (read “non-library”) location, seemed like a logical enough extension on the trends.
Click here to read more about this project, and the runners-up from Austin (“Murder Mystery at Hormel Historic Home”), Brainerd (“Little Free Library Partnership”), and Red Wing (“Telling Our Library’s Story”).
From the MN Association of Library Friends
