There’s a big room on the east side of the Moorhead Center Mall. On Sunday, that room was busy with American Association of University Women sorting the first of the boxes of books donated for its annual book sale.
Boxes and boxes and boxes of books. All week they accepted more boxes for the sale that begins Friday and ends Sunday. On Friday and Saturday, hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday hours are noon to 3 p.m. The closest entry to the sale is the city hall entrance on the north side of the Mall.
“Ninety percent of the money we raise at our annual book sale goes toward scholarships at both the national and local level. AAUW has an Educational Foundation that awards scholarships to women in the final year of doctoral or professional programs. Fifty percent of our funds go toward this endeavor,” Noell Reinhiller says.
“In addition, we support two local scholarships, one at Minnesota State University Moorhead and one at North Dakota State University,” Reinhiller added.
MSUM established an endowed Dorothy Dodds Early Education Scholarship and AAUW contributes to this endowment yearly. “Dorothy was a member of the combined Fargo-Moorhead branch. As you may know, the newest elementary school in Moorhead will carry her name. Each semester several early education majors at MSUM are awarded scholarships from this endowed fund,” she said.
Grace Hudson, a Fargo business owner and an active branch member, bequeathed $1,000 to NDSU and the branch began donating funds. It became stipend producing in 1987. This year's recipient received $631 from the Grace Hudson Scholarship designed for re-entry women who have graduated from high school at least 10 years ago and can state definitecareer goals.
The book sale began in 1958 and was in a downtown Fargo location until 1971. The sale moved to West Acres for a few years and in 2001 found a home at the Moorhead Center Mall.
“The Mall is wonderful. They set up tables, they put boxes in the room when people leave them outside the gates and they welcome us,” Reinhiller said. The sale is in the same room a number of other public events are held. From the comments of the AAUW members, the room could be called a community hospitality room.
Donated CDs and DVDs have a table.
AAUW members sort all the books and organize them so you can find what you want. Fiction, westerns, sports, science, regional, mystery, science fiction, health, education, classics, cookbooks, biography, children and young adult books are some of the categories.
A local bookseller donated books from both his store and his personal collection.
AAUW began locally in 1922. Seventeen women went to the first meeting Jan. 27. In February, they became the third established branch in North Dakota with 62 charter members.
Eight years later, three people including Moorhead State Teachers College faculty member Jenny Owens and Concordia College faculty member Florence Krueger formed the Moorhead branch.
In 2003, the two merged and now operate as one branch.
Since the 1990s, AAUW has continued to fight for social justice, education, Title IX and gender equality.
AAUW advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research. In principle and in practice, AAUW values and seeks a diverse membership. There are no barriers to full participation in the organization based on gender, race, creed, age, sexual orientation, national origin, disability or class.
For information on meetings and membership, go to fargo-nd.aauw.net; check its Facebook page, AAUW Fargo-Moorhead; email farmoor.aauw@gmail.com or write to P.O. Box 10761, Fargo, ND 58102.
