WEST BLOOMFIELD TWP. — “Are you ready for chaos?” asked Sharon Resnick as she opened the door to Congregation Beth Ahm on a seemingly quiet Tuesday morning.
Inside, the synagogue was serving as a depot and filled with hundreds of boxes filled with thousands of books, vinyl albums, CDs, DVDs and more, just days before Bookstock, the biggest used book and media sale of the year. This year’s event is set to take place April 26 to May 3 at Laurel Park Place in Livonia.
Thousands of books and media have already been moved to a depot closer to the mall in preparation for the 22nd annual sale, but thousands more were at the synagogue, waiting for transport. In total, the 2026 Bookstock sale will have more than a half million items that will find new homes, with most priced between $2 and $4, but some spectacular, rare treasures that could fetch up to $1,000.
“People are cleaning out houses and they don’t know what to do and they give things to us,” explained Resnick, facilities liaison for Bookstock as she took a seat in one of many rooms at the synagogue that are filled nearly to the ceilings with boxes.
Signs on the walls above the boxes denote which of more than 50 categories the books they contain belong in, including comics, humor, sports, travel, history and cookbooks just in one room alone. Other rooms contain children’s books and a variety of fiction, including classics and newer releases.
When items reach the sale, they will be arranged accordingly, with tables throughout the mall for each category. Volunteers have been working behind the scenes for months to get to this point, with about 40 people meeting once a week at the synagogue to sort through donations.
“It’s a labor of love,” Resnick said, adding that the reward is seeing books go to new homes.
A sign on one wall instructs the volunteers to take to “room 4” any books that are first editions, or otherwise “exceptional, unique, very old, special, beautiful, interesting, unusual, coffee-table worthy, or weird.”
These books will be in a special selections storefront at the sale and specially priced. Among this year’s “special selections” is a Mickey Mantle memoir, signed by the baseball legend himself and priced at $300; a first edition, May 1936 printing of Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone With the Wind,” for $900; and a limited edition 1885 copy of Laurence Sterne’s “A Sentimental Journey,” one of only 1,000 made, available for $1,000.
Many other special selections are gold-edged, leather-bound, factory-sealed, collector’s editions, or are sold as entire sets. Most range in price from $30 to $50, and are priced at least 25% below what they have sold for online after being researched, Bookstock volunteer Carol Dmitruk said.
Resnick and Dmitruk noted that the sale will feature many vintage books that volunteers simply didn’t have time to research and shoppers could find treasures at bargain prices, all while contributing to a greater cause.
All proceeds from Bookstock support the promotion of literacy in the Detroit area and across Michigan, with more than $3 million given through the years, Resnick said.
Visitors can gain admission to a presale on April 26 from 8:15 a.m. to 11 a.m. for $25. Regular hours are free and are Sundays from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. and Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. For more details on special selections, special bonus sales and more, visit bookstockmi.org.
Contact reporter Susan Bromley at sbromley@hometownlife.com
This article originally appeared on Hometownlife.com: ‘Chaos’: A behind the scenes look at Bookstock ahead of massive sale
Reporting by Susan Bromley, Hometownlife.com / Hometownlife.com
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