The Great Northfield Book Raid turns 50

The Northfield Ice Arena doors opened on a drizzly afternoon and hundreds of umbrella-bearing people poured inside last week to seek rare books, romance novels, children's stories and much, much more.

The oval rink was packed with more than 100,000 books donated by area residents, book clubs, retired clergy and professors from the two bookends overlooking Northfield's Cannon River: St. Olaf and Carleton colleges.

Inside the rink waited Mary Schwake and more than 80 other volunteer tome guardians wearing red kerchiefs and warm clothes (no rink ice, but no heat either). Many are members of the Northfield Hospital Auxiliary, which has put on the mega-sale for 50 years.

The Great Northfield, Minnesota Book Raid has raised more than $500,000 for hospital improvements and community needs, said Schwake, auxiliary historian.

"It's a lot of work for a lot of people, but we feel so strongly it is something that benefits the whole community," Schwake said. "It's a great project."

All told, about 360 folks, many retired, have volunteered during the five-day sale and two weeks of preparation. They hauled, sorted and arranged tons of books, CDs, DVDs, games and more on 220 tables organized under 27 section topics ranging from science to music, classics to fairy tales.

"It's a great way to see the books get new owners," said Georgene Johnson, a volunteer section leader for about 20 years. "We just love it. It gets in your blood. ... It is a whole community effort: The volunteers, the readers and the college students who get things they might need."

The big fundraiser started small in 1961 with an afternoon sale on the front porch of then-auxiliary president Berdelle Hero.

Helen Albers helped Hero launch the used book fair and stuck with it until she had a heart attack in 2003. She recalled that one lady questioned Hero's idea, arguing: "Oh, no. That would only last a year and all the books would be gone."

"The town has never run out of books," said an amused hospital spokesman Scott Richardson. "Inventory is never an issue."

By 1964, the books inundated Hero's porch. The event moved to the Northwestern State Bank (not the one robbed by Jesse James) conference room, and earned $303. By 1971, that space was too small, so the auxiliary ladies moved to the Northfield Armory and took in $1,043 in a one-day sale, Schwake said. They tripled their take in 1985 when they arrived at the arena.

Last year, the sale earned more than $50,000, she said.

Books sold for a dime or 15 cents in the early years; now they are a dollar or more, said Albers, 83, wife of a dairy farmer.

"Some of those books probably came back many times," she said. "People read them and give them back."

Albers remembered years ago when she bought a set of Goethe philosophy books, donated by a deceased German professor's family. She discovered at home that Goethe had signed some of his books. So she returned the set to the family, who gave them to the St. Olaf College library.

Last week's sale featured a small table of rare books, the oldest of which was an 1879 version of Milton's "Paradise Lost." There was also a small 1899 poetry volume by John Greenleaf Whittier.

Another table was piled with Oprah book club titles. Other tables bore tales by or about Shakespeare, Nancy Drew, Zane Grey and Ernest Hemingway.

Waiting outside the arena door for the first night opening were a handful of booksellers, armed with scanners to search for the barcode titles they hoped to scoop up and sell online.

The Book Raid "is one of the biggest and best in Minnesota," said bookseller Andy Devich of Maple Grove, as his colleagues nodded agreement."

A ways back in the line, two book club pals said they came to stock up for their club and kids before the best books were picked over. "The most interesting people come the first night," said club member Christine Sartor of Northfield. She was hoping to find a book on the origins of sexuality called "Sex at Dawn."

Later that evening, seventh-grader Impala Mertes of Faribault paged through a comic book-style Japanese graphic novel in the youth section. "You read them from back to front," she explained. "I like books with suspense."

Albers, one of the few surviving sale founders, sees no end to the literary fundraiser.