Little City Book Fair Continues Sunday

This weekend’s Little City Book Fair got off to a brisk start Friday evening. More than 300 people were admitted during the event's opening two hours to browse thousands of used books spread throughout the gymnasium. Many of those people moved from table to table with shopping carts filled with books.

The book fair continues Saturday and Sunday. All proceeds go to the .

Ray Savich of Palatine was looking for bargains Friday night with his daughter Julia. “We love book sales. We love books,” he said, “and the idea that you can help out Little City is always a plus.”

Savich said he wasn’t looking for any title in particular, but had picked up some fiction, some classics and some hobby books. “You can’t help but find something you like,” he said.

This is the fifth year that Little City has organized the book sale, but the first time it has been in Palatine.

Previously, the event took place at the Old Orchard shopping center in Skokie. “We wanted to move it closer to Little City for a long time,” book fair project manager Rick Johnson said, “and this year we finally had a chance to do it.”

Johnson said most of the Little City volunteers who work the book fair live in the Palatine area. He also said it made sense to move the event closer to the area served by Little City, a nonprofit organization that assists people with mental and developmental disabilities.

“We just wanted to get it [the book fair] back home, so to speak,” Johnson said.

Nancy Schaefer of Evanston has attended the book fair for the past four years and said the event was still worth the longer drive this year. “I think they always have a great selection of books, and I’m an avid book reader.”

The Little City Book Fair is regarded as one of the biggest and best used book sales in the Midwest. Before Little City took over the event, it was run for 48 years by the Brandeis University Women’s Auxiliary, and was a staple of the North Shore summer calendar.

Previously, the book fair was a 10-day, outdoor event. Moving the book sale indoors to the Harper gymnasium meant reducing the number of days to three, Johnson said, but it also cuts down on expenses. Organizers no longer have to rent tents, generators and port-a-toilets. The date has also been changed from June to August.

“In a sense it’s a whole new event, launching all over again,” Johnson said. “It’ll be a learning experience for us to see how it all works out. … We can build it into something that can be beneficial to everyone.”

Because of the book sale, Little City now operates a book warehouse that has created employment opportunities for its residents, Johnson said. Organizers estimate more than 200,000 books, DVDs, CDs and records will be available for purchase at the book fair.

The Little City Book Fair continues from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Harper College gymnasium (Building M), 1200 W. Algonquin Road. Admission is free. Prices range from 50 cents to $5, except for collectible books.