Glenwood Springs resident and nonprofit communications specialist Caitlin Causey is a firm believer in the importance of reading, whether it’s for personal wellbeing, knowledge or growth, or because the newest fantasy-romance is all the rage and you’ve run out of seasons of your favorite show to binge on Netflix. 

The reason doesn’t matter — it’s the reading that counts. 

“It doesn’t matter what you read, just read something. Get the cheesy romance novel or get the silly sci-fi novel. Or get your John Steinbeck and read ‘Grapes of Wrath,'” Causey said. “Sometimes people feel like reading has to be this really intellectual pursuit. It doesn’t have to be that.”

Causey’s love for reading, no matter the book or reason, has been a vital driver during her time on the volunteer board of the Free-For-All Book Fair. Together with board members Becca Percy, Brynne Gordon, Karen Urnise, Tia Smilack and lead volunteers Holly Coleman and Jessie Goff, Causey has coordinated book donations and marketed and prepped for the entirely volunteer-run event, which strives to increase equity in the book world by giving away thousands of used and new Spanish and English books for children, teens and adults. 

“Those of us who are organizing it are all moms, with our own families and demanding family schedules,” Causey said. “We all have young children, so it’s truly been a labor of love and a huge volunteer effort. We’re joking that we have an additional part time job right now.”

The fair is the brainchild of local pediatrician Percy and New Castle teacher Shelby Williams, who wanted to increase local access to at-home reading material. In 2023, the inaugural fair moved thousands of books to hundreds of local community members, and it has only grown, according to Causey. 

“We really want to emphasize the lifelong love of reading and part of that is having your own books that you can have on your shelf and you can come to at any time,” Causey said. “You can take them traveling. It doesn’t matter if they get damaged. You can write in them and highlight your favorite passages and keep them forever if you desire.”

This year’s fair is noon to 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13 at the Glenwood Springs Community Center, 100 Wulfsohn Road. The community center will be filled with around 6,500 donated teen, adult and children’s books, as well as some new young adult books and new children’s and adult books in Spanish, all awaiting new homes. Visitors are encouraged to bring a large bag and take as many books as they want.

“There was kind of a magic in the air, honestly. It truly felt like the spirit of giving, the spirit of Christmas was there,” Causey said regarding the 2023 fair. “It’s definitely by design that we have it at the Christmas season, partially because we know that there are some kids or families who may want to come in and pick up some books as Christmas gifts for others, but also, this is kind of the reading season. The winter months are often when people burrow in and do the majority of their reading for the year.”

Gift cards to bookstores Alpenglow Books and Gifts, 720 Grand Ave. Floor One, Glenwood Springs, and White River Books, 65B North Second St., Carbondale, will be raffled every half hour. Visitors can enter to win a gift card by completing a short demographic survey that will help Free-For-All Book Fair take stock of who attends the event. 

“We’re hoping to apply for some grants next year to receive grant money to build capacity for the program. We really want to know who we’re serving,” Causey said. “It is absolutely open to all. We welcome anyone in any income bracket, but we want to know where people are coming from, where they live, how old they are, how many people are in their family, what language they speak at home so that we can try and tailor what we offer in future years.”

Local children’s authors Wendi Silvano, Deborah Holt Williams and Nancy Bo Flood will each read and sign their books at AlpenGlow Books at 11 a.m. before heading to the book fair for another storytime in the afternoon. Silvano will read her book “Turkey Trouble” at 2 p.m., Williams will read “Awful Waffles” at 3 p.m. and Flood will read “I Will Dance” at 4:15 p.m. 

The fair aims to make book ownership more accessible, removing the cost that prohibits some from keeping books at home. “The library is a wonderful resource, but you have to give those back. Our bookstores are wonderful, we love them and we support them, but sometimes the cost is out of reach for some families,” she added. “We feel like this is part of the reading ecosystem: spreading out resources from people who have disposable income to buy books, passing them on to people who maybe don’t.”

Causey encourages even those who aren’t the biggest fans of reading to stop by and pick up a book (or two or three) — if anyone can spread the love for reading, it will be the bookworms volunteering at the fair on Friday, including volunteers from Alpine Bank and Glenwood Springs High School National Honor Society students. 

 “It takes work to become a reader. It has to become a practice, and it can feel lonely at times,” she said. “I think it can be a force that can push back on all the other distractions and the things that are pulling for our attention all the time…it’s a way to slow our minds down and the cumulative effect of that practice can be really healing. It’s kind of an antidote to our busy modern lives, so I hope people will embrace that.”