October 29, 2004/Cheshvan 14 5765, Vol. 57, No. 9
Book bonanzaChoices abound at annual expo
VICKI CABOT
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Or a book fair.
This year's Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center Book Fair promises to be bigger and better than last year's, with a variety of special events to entice even couch potatoes - those curled up at home with a good book - to show up.
About 650 titles will be showcased as well as 15 authors, including such headliners as novelist Susan Isaacs, Pulitzer Prize winner Jonathan Weiner and travel writer Peter Greenberg. Events, scheduled from Nov. 1-14 at the Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus, range from a literary lunch to a Chai tea to a casino night. Planned, too, are three programs for school-age readers with children's book author Deborah Heiligman.
New this year was the formation of a programming committee, drawn from a number of Jewish communal organizations, to brainstorm potential authors and books.
Book fair committee members, headed by Sandy Adler, used their trip to Book Expo America, the biggest trade show in the publishing industry, as a starting point for gleaning suggestions from the group for the local event.
The result is an amazingly diverse offering.
Marlene Benjamin, who oversees the fair's book ordering, promises, "We probably have the biggest, broadest selection of books on Jewish topics or by Jewish authors that any one can find in any one place at anyone time."
New this year, too, is an expanded mailing that put 16,000 copies of the fair brochure in Jewish homes across the Valley.
Last year the fair drew some 1,000 participants. At press time, registration for this year's event was ahead of last year, and itinerant shoppers and browsers and the usual at-the-door registrants are always welcome, says Tricia Serlin, JCC adult services director.
Adler says the fair is gaining recognition in the Jewish book world as an appealing venue, enhancing both its reputation and its ability to attract more name authors.
Benjamin, working with Borders at Cactus Road and Tatum Boulevard, has been receiving daily deliveries of the more than 3,000 books ordered and will supervise transporting them to the campus just before the fair opens. She says more quality paperbacks than hard cover choices will be available this year, responding to reader demand, and notes that any profits realized go to the JCC to offset costs of the fair. Budget for the two-week event is approximately $15,000.
New this year, Goodman's Furniture is providing bookcases and tables to house the books.
"The display will be nicer," says Benjamin. "More like a bookstore."
And plenty of volunteers will be on hand to assist shoppers.
"That's my favorite part," says Benjamin, who like the more than 60 volunteers who make this event happen, is an avid reader.
"We can say 'Ah, that's great. Read it.'"