Twelve authors will be participating in Baldwin Public Library’s first-ever Bibliophile Bonanza. The authors are local and have had books published in the last three years.
By: Mary Genson | Birmingham-Bloomfield Eagle | Published October 29, 2024
BIRMINGHAM —Twelve local authors will gather for the Bibliophile Bonanza 2-4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9, at the Baldwin Public Library, 300 W. Merrill St.
Library Director Rebekah Craft said the library often receives calls from local authors looking to add their book to the library’s collection. This event invites local authors to set up a table to sell their books and meet other local authors and book lovers. The library took inspiration from other libraries, including Northville District Library, which does a similar event every year.
“One of the goals is to highlight our local authors and illustrators in the community, and then the other part is to introduce people to local authors and illustrators for inspiration as something that they can do themselves,” Alyssa Gudenburr, a youth services librarian, said. “This way they can see that there’s people in their community that can do it, so they could do it too.”
Participating authors had to be selected in order to be featured in the fair.
All authors were required to have a book published in the last three years. Gudenburr said they looked for a variety of local authors, which they were able to pick from several entrants. Participants include five children’s authors, one teen author and six adult authors. They also have a range of genres, such as nonfiction, picture books, fiction and memoirs.
“It is always nice to meet the author, because they can share their perspective of the work and they can always describe the book in a way that makes it super interesting,” Craft said.
Gudenburr said they plan to evaluate the success of the event through turnout and feedback, and will use this information to decide how frequently they will hold these events.
While only 12 local artists were selected to participate in this event, the library has an online form, titled “indie author submission,” open for all local authors to submit their book for consideration to be ordered by the library.
There is also an online form titled “purchase suggestion” on their website for community members to submit what books they want the library to offer.
“We are always looking for input from our community on what they want to see in the library, and then we are always looking for new books to add to our collection,” Craft said.
Both of these online forms and more information on the Bibliophile Bonanza can be found at baldwinlib.org.