MeCo Coffee Collective and Composition Shop have teamed up with Frederick High’s library team to host a community pop-up book fair. This book fair will be held on Wednesday, November 19 at MeCo from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The book fair will feature Colorado author Mariko Turk, who won this year’s Colorado Book Award for Young Adult Literature. Her winning novel, I’ll Be Waiting for You, features Natalie, a girl who plans to spend the summer before her senior year filming audition tapes for ghost hunting shows while she privately grieves the sudden loss of her best friend. Turk will be signing copies of her novel from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Additionally, MeCo will have a special literature-inspired menu of snacks and drinks. Of course, they will also have several other books for sale, hand-picked by the Composition Shop. A portion of all sales (both books and beverages) goes directly to the Frederick High Library. The library will use this money to fund books, media resources, and programs for the student body.
Rebecca Reid, Frederick High’s teacher librarian, stated that “we did this to create a community event that supports literacy as well as our school and local businesses.”
She hopes this collaboration will bring out the local literary community and those that haven’t checked out MeCo yet. MeCo is a small, independently owned business that put down roots in Frederick only a few months ago. They see this as a good opportunity for the community to discover and get to know their business.
Isaac Olsen, one of the two managers at MeCo Collective, said, “The whole reality is we just want to be a part of the community’s support, and supporting the high school is definitely part of our priority list. Especially with young individuals coming into the world and [needing] spaces to exhibit what’s going on in their life.”
MeCo has also sponsored the Frederick football team and plans to hold more school fundraisers in the future. “We love plugging in with the community.”
Dixie Kalvels, the media specialist for Frederick High’s library, said, “I am so excited to be able to bring a book fair to the Frederick community. It’s one of those events that everyone has memories of as a kid but that nobody gets to experience after elementary school.”
While the book fair will help the high school, it isn’t just for high school. There will be books to appeal to everyone from young kids to adults. If the book fair proves to be a success, the fair could become a reoccurring event throughout the year. Ultimately, the sponsors hope that many non-readers will show up for the food and friendly atmosphere but will leave with a new or rediscovered love for reading.
In the words of Mrs. Kalvels, “Like, who doesn’t want to have a How to Train Your Dragon fruit refresher?”
