Profits to support local literacy programs

Friends of Kingsport Public Library and First Book - Greater Kingsport announce the 2021 Kingsport Book Fair to be held at the Kingsport Civic Auditorium. No admission fee is charged throughout the entire weekend and shoppers are encouraged to make multiple trips to the fair!

What can I find at the Fair?

Made up of donated items, received since last year's Book Fair, the collection includes thousands of printed books, audiobooks, music CDs, DVDs, and vinyl record albums. Each item has been individually priced and sorted into one of 30+ categories (based on format and topic). Kingsport Book Fair does not scan books for "gems" to be sold online--in fact, most items are priced from 25 cents to 5 dollars, based on age, condition and popularity.

As with previous Book Fairs, this year's inventory has exceptional quality, quantity and variety: fiction, non-fiction, history, biography, childrens, religion, music, cookbooks, DIY, gardening, textbooks, vinyl, and art/coffee table books. There is also a Regional Interest category with books by local authors including Nicholas Sparks, as well as topics as varied as cookbooks by local churches and civic organizations, and hiking guides for the Great Smoky Mountains.

What does the Book Fair support?

Kingsport Book Fair is an excellent example of community recycling and sustainability. All items collected and sold are locally pre-owned books. The donations are stored in approximately 2000 reused boxes (primarily from local church kitchens) which are used and re-used from year to year. Except for the minimal monthly fees charged to store and move the books to the Civic Auditorium, all labor is donated by book loving, caring volunteers. Profits from the Book Fair are split equally by the Friends of the Kingsport Public Library and First Book - Greater Kingsport. Each organization uses these funds to support local literacy programs.

What can I do to help?

Additional volunteers are welcomed to help un-box books before the event and throughout the weekend of the actual sale, as well as re-boxing at the conclusion. This is a fabulous opportunity for youth needing volunteer service hours for high school graduation or college applications. Please fill out the form below to volunteer.

How long has the Fair been happening?

In 1961 the Kingsport Branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) 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 (FOL) joined the Book Fair with the 2007 sale. Beginning with the 2012 Book Fair, FOL and the First Book - Greater Kingsport continued the Book Fair tradition on an annual basis. As with the original Book Fair, the profits continue to be used locally to support literacy and educational programs.