Sometime in 1996, somewhere North of US 150 between Peoria and Bloomington. I was coming back from Peoria, and I always took 150 instead of I74 because it was a nicer, quieter drive and about the same travel time. I see a sign that says “School Auction”. Now that gets my curiosity up. Is the whole school up for auction? I turn North and follow the signs. Pretty soon I come to a school that is surrounded by pickup trucks and people. It was a carnival atmosphere. There is a light drizzle that is threatening to turn into a full rain. I get out of the car and start walking around. The auctioneer is still setting up his trailer and the auction itself doesn’t start for another 30 minutes. Sure enough, the entire school, building and all, is for sale. The contents of the classrooms are laid out on the grass, desks, book cases, chalk boards, everything. And then I see it; On two hay racks covered under flimsy plastic is the entire contents of the school’s library. People are rifling though the books looking for one with their name in it. Probably the only book they ever read in their entire life. When they finish rifling, they don’t bother to put the plastic back over the books. All of the books are getting wet and ruined.

I go up to the auctioneer and introduce myself. I tell him that I want to buy all of the books, right now, name your price. We haggle for a bit and settle on $200. I pay him out of my pocket and ask him to announce that the books are off limits as of now. Right away he announces it over the PA.

I call back Bloomington to the truck rental company that I used and arranged for a 20’ box truck. Then I call back to the shop and tell two of my mechanics to go pick up the truck and give them directions to the school.

“Hear you bought all the books boy, what you going to do with them?” one coverall wearing, tobacco spitting moron asks me. “Thought I’d read them all” I tell him. He looks at me like I have 3 eyes and walks away. A few others ask me similar questions and I give the same answer.

My guys get there and load all the books up and head back to the Shop where we unload them in a corner. There were over 1000 books in all, most in pretty good shape. I sorted them roughly by grade level and type, and put aside about 50 that I particularly liked. We loaded them all back up in a neat order into the truck.

I spent most of the next week driving to grade schools in Bloomington/Normal and the surrounding communities walking into libraries asking if they would like some free books. Not a librarian said “No”. Many called their friends and sent me there. I hit about a dozen schools in all playing the book fairy, and every school librarian was grateful. I still have the 50 or so that I kept back. I can see the school clock that I bought at the auction hanging on the wall to my left outside the kitchen.