After a two-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bookstock is making its return this week to Laurel Park Place in Livonia.
This year’s event is better than ever simply because it has been put on hold for the past two years.
As you can imagine, everyone during quarantine cleaned up their houses and donated their lightly used books, which end up at Bookstock.
It started with a bang.
The Detroit Renaissance High School marching band led the way and the most enthusiastic Bookstock shoppers followed for the early pre-sale.
“I’m excited,” said Alison Zadavil, a shopper. “There’s so many things to choose from.”
Neal Rubin, a Detroit Free Press columnist, is the honorary co-chair.
“We’ve got 100 yards worth of people lined up outside who couldn’t wait to get at books,” he said. “It was almost like a new Harry Potter coming out.”
More than 400,000 lightly used books, vinyl and CD’s were just waiting for new owners, and with that many books, these tables stay full all week long.
“I do come every day by the way,” said Julie Ciccarelli, a shopper.
Rubin said the beauty of Bookstock is that it is the ultimate way to recycle.
“It gets books out of people’s basements and back in people’s laps, where books belong,” he said.
There’s something for everyone, whether it’s childrens, travel, history, romance or science fiction.
“Cookbooks is my passion,” Ciccarelli said. “I know this is something that’s like, people go online. Look at the recipes. I like holding a book looking at them.”
All the books are priced between just $1 and $4.
“I am opening a little free library at my house,” Zadavil said. “And so I’m collecting books so that I can stack the library. And so this is a good way to get cheap books to in order to do that.”
But it’s not just the Bookstock shoppers who benefit here. All the money raised from the event goes toward literacy programs and educational projects throughout metro Detroit.
1:31 I, I love reading my family loves reading. We have tons of books. My husband, my daughter, we all read and so it’s nice to share that love of reading with other people.
“I love reading, my family loves reading,” Zadavil said. “We have tons of books. My husband, my daughter, we all read and so it’s nice to share that love of reading with other people.”
Bookstock runs through next Sunday, May 22nd.