Books for Keeps is hosting its fifth annual community book fair throughout the month of October.
The Books for Keeps organization is an Athens-based literacy nonprofit that aims to share the joy of literacy and stop summer slide. Summer slide is a loss of reading skills that many students of all ages face during summer break. A part of the BFK’s method of combating this academic regression is to create equal access to literature by giving free books and reading support to Athens-area elementary school children.
Located at 420 Athena Drive in Athens, the BFK book fair invites guests to come into their warehouse, pick out up to 100 books and take them home completely free of charge during select times on designated days of the month. Between Oct. 11 – 13 and Oct. 17 – 19, visitors have taken home over 40,000 books to read and share with their community.
Leigh Dillard, a University of North Georgia professor who resides on the BFK board of directors, explained that this event began as the organization’s annual book sale. During COVID-19, the fundraiser turned into a free event to ensure people had access to literature during the difficult time. Since then, it has remained BFK’s largest annual fundraiser as it is “an opportunity to get loads of people into the warehouse to get a sense of the scale of the work BFK does throughout the year.”
People interested in supporting BFK’s book access programs can donate with cash or card at the event, online or by mail.
“I worked as a volunteer this year on the first day open to teachers. It was, as usual, really cool to see the excitement about all the books we had available for our shoppers, many of whom were first-time visitors.” – Leigh Dillard, UNG Professor of English
Dillard emphasizes how this event adds back to the cycle of books in the community by helping BFK clear its warehouse in preparation of receiving new books that they have ordered for their springtime book distributions.
“It’s so wonderful to see people in my own community making such a tangible difference at a local level.” – Quinn Shreve, a UNG graduate and Athens resident
The last day of the fair is Saturday, Oct. 26 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Visitors can take home new and gently used books ranging in all genres and age groups, providing reading options to everyone that attends.
