West Iron library sale returns during Iron River Market Day

The Friends of the West Iron District Library will set up their used book sale and bake sale Friday, July 10, during Market Day in downtown Iron River, pairing the fundraiser with rodeo weekend foot traffic and one of the busiest summer days in town. The book sale will run outside in front of the West Iron District Library from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the bake sale will be inside.

The sale has become a familiar stop for Iron County residents who want to browse, bump into neighbors and pick up something useful while the U.P. Championship Rodeo fills the weekend calendar at the Iron County Fairgrounds. State tourism listings say the PRCA rodeo has been coming to Iron River for more than 50 years, and the Friends have long used that draw to anchor their summer fundraiser around Market Day.

Donations of gently used books are being accepted, but only in fair to good condition and only in categories the group can use: fiction, non-fiction, children’s books, cookbooks, westerns, gardening books, craft books and inspirational books. The Friends will not accept textbooks, encyclopedias, Reader’s Digest Condensed books, Harlequin romances or magazines, a list that keeps the sorting manageable and limits unusable donations.

Book drop-off begins Monday, June 29, then resumes Wednesday, July 8 and Thursday, July 9 until noon. The West Iron District Library will be closed July 4 and 5 for the holiday. Baked goods for the sale can be dropped off in the library conference room on Thursday, July 9 or Friday, July 10 in the morning, and donors are asked to label items and note whether they contain nuts.

The fundraiser feeds directly back into the library’s work. All proceeds will support library programs and events, and the library says its mission is to promote knowledge, understanding and wisdom through educational, cultural and recreational resources and programs. The Friends group, established in 2002, also supports that mission through annual and recurring events including the summer used book sale, quarterly Lunch with an Author programs, chili feeds and bake sales, making the July sale part of a long-running Iron River tradition rather than a one-time event.