Kingsport Book Fair

Kingsport Book Fair returns to Meadowview Convention Center

Last year’s book fair raised more than $35,000 for literacy programs

The region’s largest book fair returns next week with thousands and thousands of books, audiobooks, music CDs, movies and vinyl records to choose from.

The Kingsport Book Fair will take place March 1-3 at the Meadowview Conference Resort and Convention Center. The event is coordinated and sponsored by Friends of the Library, the Literacy Council of Kingsport and the Sullivan County Imagination Library Board.

As with previous years, the event will have a special preview sale on February 29 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. with an admission of $10. Returning this year is the special academic preview sale, also on February 29 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Admission is $5, and a valid faculty/staff/student ID is required for entry.

Regular Book Fair hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on March 1-2 and 12:45 p.m. to 5 p.m. on March 3. No admission fee is charged throughout the entire weekend. No pets allowed, please.

The Book Fair will offer thousands of books for sale, along with a good selection of audiobooks, music CDs, DVDs and vinyl record albums. All of the items in the book fair have been donated for the sale over the past year and were individually priced and sorted by volunteers into one of more than 30 categories.

Major credit cards will be accepted on purchases of at least $25. Sales under $25 are cash only. The half-price sale begins at 4 p.m. on Saturday, while the $10 bag sale begins at opening on Sunday. Most donated items are priced from 25 cents to $5, based on age, condition, and popularity.

Inventory for this year’s fair includes fiction, non-fiction, history, biography, children’s, religion, music, cookbooks, DIY, gardening, textbooks, vinyl, and art/coffee table books. The Regional Interest category will have books from the FoxFire series, Jefferson Bass, Adriana Trigiani, to cookbooks from local churches and civic groups.

Classic and contemporary books on WWII will be in the History/Biography category. Readers of romance will be especially happy with the depth of the paperback fiction donations, both classic and ‘almost new’ tales of happily-ever-after. A category for Sports and Transportation will contain books on professional athletes, sports, fitness, automobiles, trains, and airplanes, while birders and other nature lovers will find gems in the Nature and Outdoors category.

Profits from the book fair go to support local literacy programs. Last year, the book fair had sales of more than $35,000.

For more information or to volunteer your time call 423-967-7135 or email kingsportbookfair@gmail.com.

About the Kingsport Book Fair

In 1961, the Kingsport Branch of the American Association of University Women held the first Book Fair. Every other year through 2011, AAUW collected books and multimedia items for the Book Fair, growing it from a few tables to thousands of boxes filling all the tables in the Kingsport Civic Auditorium. The Friends of the Kingsport Public Library joined the Book Fair with the 2007 sale. Beginning with the 2012 Book Fair, FOL and the First Book – Greater Kingsport continued the tradition on an annual basis. As with the original Book Fair, the profits continue to be used locally to support literacy and educational programs.

About Kingsport Public Library

The Kingsport Public Library, founded in 1921 as the Kingsport Book Club, has been a part of the City of Kingsport since 1929. In 1961, the library moved to its current Broad Street location. Today it serves the residents of Kingsport by providing access to a variety of materials and services to support their informational, educational, and recreational needs. For more information, please visit www.kingsportlibrary.org.

About the City of Kingsport

Founded in 1917, the City of Kingsport (pop. 55,400) is located on the Tennessee-Virginia border at the crossroads of I-81 and I-26 near the geographic center of the eastern United States. The city is widely known as a planned community, designed by renowned city planner John Nolen and wrapping around the foot of Bays Mountain – a 3,750-acre park, nature preserve, planetarium and observatory. Kingsport is recognized as an International Safe Community by the National Safety Council, a Healthier Tennessee community, and won the 2009 Harvard Innovations in American Government Award for its higher education initiatives. While many city names are duplicated throughout the U.S., there’s only one Kingsport – a fact that invokes community pride, known locally as the “Kingsport Spirit.” For more information, please visit www.kingsporttn.gov.