The Big Rapids branch of the American Association of University Women hosted its annual used book sale on April 17 and 18 at the First United Methodist Church in Big Rapids.
At the sale, customers could choose from several different books of various genres from gardening, mystery, romance, maths, sciences and much more. The book sale focuses on gathering donations of used books to be sold at their annual sale. With the sales proceeds, the AAUW offers scholarships to non-traditional students for the 2027 spring semester.
AAUW defines non-traditional students as juniors and seniors who don’t meet the typical criteria for traditional students.
CO Vice President of AAUW membership and assistant professor of philosophy and religions, Dr. Sarah Lucas, expanded on what a non-traditional student is.
“A non-traditional student could be anyone who, for example, isn’t the traditional college student age. It could mean they have kids, or even that they took a break from schooling to work,” Lucas said.
Last year, they were able to give out three $2,000 scholarships. While the annual fundraising amount fluctuates from year to year, the AAUW aims to offer three scholarships ranging from $1,500 to $2,000.
During the event last year, Lucas was on the chair of the scholarship committee. This year, she focused more on getting volunteers to help set up and tear down the book sale.
“I help get the word out about the scholarship in the fall and collect applicants. I also helped send out the exciting news to our scholarship winners,” Lucas said.
Following her role in helping organize the event last year, Lucas was nominated for an AAUW of Michigan award for 2026 Michigan Young Leader.
Lucas was nominated by one of the other members at AAUW, and she will attend a convention next weekend to receive the award.
Another member of the scholarship committee, Cathy Parker, reflected on the scholarship amounts and how they have increased over the years.
“We used to give out $1,000 years ago, but nowadays, with the cost of college, it didn’t go far enough,” Parker said. “At first, we went up to $1,500, and last year we were able to offer up to $2,000.”
Outside of scholarships and its annual book sale event, AAUW hosts monthly meetings, as well as thematically planned events, such as hosting informational sessions for Domestic Violence Awareness Month with WISE in Oct.
President of AAUW, Leah Monger, went on to provide more details about the AAUW Big Rapids branch.
“The American Association of University Women is a national organization. There are state affiliates and branch affiliates. This is our 80th year and this branch has been around for a good long time. We aren’t the oldest branch in Michigan, but we are close,” Monger said.
While the AAUW does host different events throughout the year, the used book sale is by far one of their highest attended events.
“We have thought about other fundraisers we might want to try, but we’re just kind of afraid that it would be hard to make as much money in a two-day period as we do with this particular fundraiser,” Monger said. “Plus, the community loves it. There are people who look forward to this every year. I’ve had people tell me it’s the biggest book sale in town.”
With the continuous success of the annual book sale, the AAUW will continue to raise scholarship funds through this event in future years.
All of the events that AAUW hosts are geared towards being open to the public and anyone is welcome to stop by and participate. The AAUW also welcomes community members and students to join the branch.
Scholarships using this year’s fundraised donations will be available after the start of the Fall 2026 semester. Scholarship funding is awarded via check from AAUW.
Students looking to join the Big Rapids AAUW branch can email Dr. Lucas at Sa********@****is.edu.