Posted by By Claudia Chiappa
On Thursday, October 17, and Friday, October 18, Coe College Stewart Memorial Library hosted a book sale for students. On sale were not only books of all genres and kinds, but also CDs, DVDs, and much more. Hardbacks were only $1.00 each, while paperbacks were $0.50 each. By Friday, the library had a new deal: fill a grocery bag and pay only $2.00; fill a box only $3.00. By the last hour, remaining books were free.
Most of the books on sale were donated to the library by members of the community. According to Sandy Blanchard, Head of Circulation Department, over the two-day sale the library was able to over $700.
“When we had this two years ago, we made our highest amount,” said Blanchard. “But we had a lot of CDs and DVDs at the time. For not having that huge collection of that type of media, this is probably one of the highest amounts.”
All proceeds from the book sale went to the Brian Schappert Endowment, a fund set up years ago in memory of Brian Schappert, a History and Political Science Coe student who was murdered in 1989, during his senior year of college.
“The Crescent Chapter (Coe Chapter) of Mortar Board established this endowment as a memorial to Brian,” said Cheri Pettibone. “Then President Chris Baker and Treasurer Judith Meyers hoped to raise at least $1,000 from Coe students, faculty, and alumni, the interest on the fund would be used each year to purchase books for the Stewart Memorial Library in Schappert’s memory. They succeeded, and the library continues to use this endowment to this day to purchase Political Science titles in Brian’s memory.”
In a snippet from the 1987-89 Fall Courier, Mortar Board Treasurer and Cosmos Staff Reporter says, “The Schappert Fund is an ongoing tribute which ensures our fellow classmate won’t be forgotten. It is also a way for the Coe community to show how much Brian will be missed.”
The book sale is a great initiative to keep the memory of Brian Schappert alive and, at the same time, to continue providing Coe students with new books.
“It’s tough because I know people wanna donate to us, but sometimes it’s just difficult to find places to put them all,” said Blanchard. “But having a book sale has worked out really well. After doing this for many years, we were able to purchase books that are more relevant now for people. So Coe students are benefiting in the long run.”