Homecoming

I didn't really participate in Homecoming last year - didn't realize it was coming or that there were reasons to be on campus. I had noted a few activities that piqued my interest, but with other obligations, I never made it to any of them.

This year I had the bright idea of running a booksale down in the bazaar tent. We had an overflow of gift items that filled our shelves, and I wanted an opportunity to see if there were interest in developing a Friends of the Library organization to help with fundraising, promotion, organization, volunteer work, event planning - all those things that would be nice to do if only we had more time to plan and work on.

It was admittedly experimental. I had never so much as seen the bazaar tent before let alone have any sense of what I could expect. Still, there is no better way to find out than to plunge in and try it. Hindsight can be a wonderful thing. My colleague suggested putting a few carts of books together and wheeling them down, make a few signs, take a cash box. Simple.

And it was. Except that it took six men and a monkey to wheel the heavy carts down the hill and across campus (it took a woman to suggest using the VAC elevator to avoid the hill), and thank goodness for the staff who volunteered to spell me so I could run to the bathroom and grab a bite of lunch.

People came in waves. There was the set-up crowd, the pre-parade group, the post-parade group, the pre-lunch and post-lunch groups, the alumni who came back after their reunions to take a second look because they didn't have time earlier, the faculty who were interested in donating more books weeded from their personal collections, the parents with kids in strollers bunch, the graduates scrolling through, the students totally sold on books, the conversationalists, the long time affiliates who really just wanted to reminisce, and the people from the other booths who were curious.

Our little stall attracted a lot of attention, and it was surprising how many people took time to look through all of the bookcarts. At the end of the day, we had sold well over a hundred books and made a small amount of pocket change (after all, at a quarter a book, you don't make millions, but then, that's not the point). I was exhausted after the noise and the standing and the running about, but it was a decent start to what I hope will be a long tradition.

Now comes the fun part - planning the real event for next year!