Get rid of unwanted books at your house and let people buy them and put them in theirs at Bookstock. (Bookstock)
In my role as honorary co-chair of Bookstock -- the title sounds so much nicer than "persistent and annoying shill" -- I'm frequently asked how to donate merchandise for Metro Detroit's largest used book and media sale.
The answer: Dump it on 'em this Sunday, preferably in grocery bags.
Bookstock is an annual fundraiser for literacy and education projects, scheduled next time around for April 18-25 at Laurel Park Place in Livonia. In order to sell tens of thousands of books and CDs and such, the volunteers need tens of thousands of items. It's a win-win: Some people's basements and shelves get emptied, and other people's fill up.
Once the sale starts, things are too frenzied for Bookstock to accept donations, so the time to be generous is 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at Bloomfield Plaza, on the southwest corner of Maple and Telegraph roads. That's Bloomfield Plaza, not Laurel Park Place, and the storeroom is around back, behind the mall.
If you're swamped on Sunday, the next collection dates are Dec. 6 and Jan. 31. (See http://www.bookstock.info">www.bookstock.info.) But the sooner you donate, the sooner the Bookstockers can set about sorting, boxing and exclaiming.
"You do get excited every time," says Goodman, one of the original corps of good hearts who resurrected the former Brandeis University women's alumni sale in 2003. "'Omigod! Look at this!' I must have said that six times already."
No heavy lifting is involved once you get your books into your car, since earnest teenagers will be waiting at the other end to grab what you've brought. Sacks are the preferred container because cartons can get a bit weighty.
"We have lots of kids," Goodman explains, "so they can unload a lot of bags. But we'll take boxes, too. We're not picky."
nrubin@detnews.com 313-222-1874
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