The Foreign Service Journal, October 2010

A F S A N E W S 48 F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L / OC T OB E R 2 0 1 0 B arbara Butcher was bored. She and her husband had just moved back toWashington, D.C., fromtheir post in India. It was 1989, and they were still in temporary housing. She hadn’t yet adjusted to living back inWashington, a city for which she didn’t much care, and she didn’t have all that much to do. So Butcher phoned a friend, looking for a way to pass the time. “I’ll pick youup tomorrowmorning,” thewoman toldButcher. And so the next 21 years of Butcher’s life as a volunteer for the Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide’s BookFair were set in motion. In all those years, she has missed only one BookFair, even commuting in fromColoradowhere she and her husband retired. And she’s not alone in her love for the book sale, one of the few of its kind remaining in the area. Asmany as 100 customers still line up hours before the fair opens, elbowing each other out of the way to get the best of the unique set of books and art on sale. “Man, you just had to plaster your- self against a wall,” Butcher recalls. This year the BookFair celebrates its 50th anniversary as a Foreign Service institution despite all the obstacles modernity has thrown in its way over the years. From Oct. 8-17, AAFSW’s volunteers will take over the State Depart- ment exhibit hall offering books, antiques, art, DVDs and more at bargain prices. The spousal support andnetworking group started the BookFair in 1960 as a way to raise money for scholarships and eventually branched out to support local charities as well. In recent years, they’ve evendedicated earnings of the BookFair to emergency relief, such as Haiti earthquake assistance efforts. “Foreign Service officers are bookish types and so we thought it would be a goodway tomakemoney,” saysMette Beecroft, who has chaired the BookFair for the past 12 years. AAFSW’s shelves are certainly unique. Obscure titles andornate artifacts come in fromposts around theworld,meaning youmight find a tome on international environmental law and policy, a Murakami novel, or a Chinese ceremonial silk robe. There is even a fair selection of rare and first-edition books. The 1960 BookFair, which had about 7,500 books for sale, net- ted $2,781, an unexpected windfall for the organizers, and more than enough for five scholarships. Now, AAFSWhas more than 100,000 books to sell each year, Beecroft says, andmakes around $75,000. Still, it’s been touch-and-go for the BookFair in the last few years. It has watched its local competitors fold one-by-one over the last decade: theVassar Book Sale at theWashingtonConvention Center closed after 51 years in 1999; theGoodwill sale ended three years later after a 31-year run. “It’s sort of a point of pride to keep going,” says volunteer Judy Felt. Technology like the Kindle is one of several threats on the hori- zon for book sales of this type. But the economy has also taken its toll, raisingAAFSW’s costs for publicity, equip- ment rental and security. The group also pays the State Department guards who work extra hours during the BookFair. But even these eco- nomic realities may not be the biggest threat to the 50-year-old BookFair. “I think that corps of people who are very loyal to the organization and fair are getting old, and not that many young people are coming up behind,” Butcher says. This is her last year commuting in from1,500 miles away to help set up the sale. It’s also Beecroft’s last year as organizer. The BookFair, which runs almost entirely on the shoulders of its volunteers, is nearly out of manpower. “We are a graying organization,” Beecroft laments in the crowd- ed room where stacks of donations wait to be sorted. “The younger generationwill have to take over sooner or later,” Felt adds. Andmaybe theywill. After all, theAAFSWBookFair has defied the odds for 50 years now to become the oldest surviving local event of its type. “This is a big production,” Felt says. “We always wonder if we can do it another year, and then we do it.” ❏ AAFSW BookFair Turns 50 BY AMY MCKEEVER AAFSWBookFair ChairwomanMette Beecroft (left) chats with a customer over the garden- ing section at the 2008 fair. Oriental rugs from Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar are among themany popular finds in the Art Corner of the AAFSW BookFair. AAFSW