Spring Fling brings community together

Residents of Mineral County flowed into the Superior Elementary School Gym on Saturday to browse books and visit with friends during the third annual Spring Fling on Saturday.

The Spring Fling is put on by the Friends of the Library and is used as a fundraiser to help fund projects such as the summer reading program for the counties libraries.

“It helps us to fill in the gaps,” Leslie Heppe, of the Friends of the Library, said. “The money we make today fills in for anything the budget doesn’t cover, which is a lot. It helps us put on the summer reading program, get new computers if we need them and generally just fill in any sort of gap.”

According to Heppe, the event “gets bigger every year” and this year was no exception. Along with used books for sale and numerous gift baskets donated by local businesses and residents for auction, several other groups from the county such as Relay for Life, the museum and the Community Foundation were on hand to provide information to interested attendees.

Heppe also mentioned that books not sold at the Spring Fling are boxed up and sent to Better World Books in Indiana, an organization that donates books and funds literacy programs throughout the world.

Not only was the Spring Fling a chance for the Friends of the Library to generate funds, according to Florence Evans it is also an event that brings the community together.

“After having such a long winter this is a way for folks to come together and see how everyone is doing,” Evans said. “It’s also beneficial to other non-profit organizations in the community because it gives them a chance to get the word out about their programs.”

Throughout the day residents trickled in and out of the gym, participating in the auction and filling bags with used books. Last year Heppe said the Friends of the Library sent 48 50-pound boxes of books to Better World Books but with the increased crowd this year she said “it shouldn’t be that much this year.”