A line of students snaked through Tator Hall 15 minutes before Quinnipiac University’s Student Programming Board opened the doors to its annual book fair Monday evening on the Mount Carmel Campus.
Students received 10 nonmonetary tickets at the entrance table, which they could exchange for books and small trinkets. Books cost between five and seven tickets, and any unused tickets could be saved for the second night of the event.
“I think this event does really well, just because for people who love books, this is something they will make time to come to,” SPB Travel Chair and senior media studies major Elizabeth Waite said. “This is the first time that we’ve done an event at the Tator organization tables.”
SPB sourced the books from members’ personal collections as well as local secondhand bookstores, including Books & Company in North Haven and Reread Books & More in Cheshire.
In addition to the makeshift bookstore, SPB set up a smaller table filled with fidget toys, mini pop-its and other knick-knacks students could purchase with their remaining tickets.
“It’s a little crowded, but it’s great that it’s crowded,” SPB Late Night Chair and sophomore 3+1 biology major Mackenzie Adam said. “We have a lot of people (who) are interested in books. I think it’s a great system that we have here.”
“It’s great,” junior health science and physical therapy student Julia Russell said. “It gives people something to look forward to at the end of the day, and it’s a free event for students, so it’s a bonding thing, which is good as well.”
SPB will host a second book fair March 4 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the same location. Students can reuse any unused tickets from Monday’s event. More information about upcoming events can be found on SPB’s Instagram, @quspb
For many students, the timing of the event was ideal. With Quinnipiac’s spring recess beginning March 7, attendees saw the book fair as the perfect opportunity to pick up a new read for the week off.
SPB will have a second book fair March 4 from 7-8:30 p.m. in the same location.
“I decided to make it a two-day thing, just to kind of give people more availability to come because everyone loves books,” Waite said.
“We try and cater to a lot of people, but this is one of the events that is a bit more niche,” Waite said. “And I think people like that.”
As students browsed tables stacked with secondhand novels and paperbacks, the steady crowd suggested the event’s appeal extended beyond its niche audience.