From books, to bibles, there is something for everybody at the Stables Event Center in Norfolk. The Norfolk Rescue Mission is hosting their annual book sale, with profits going back to the mission.

“It began actually just as a part of a yard sale event that we did about 18 or 19 years ago,” said Pastor Will Perrigan, Executive Director of the Norfolk Rescue Mission.

Now, it is a yearly spectacle that draws in hundreds of people around northeast Nebraska. 

We hear people all year long, say that they look forward to this event,” said Mariah Perrigan, Will’s wife. “‘When is the rescue mission book sale?’ Everyone looks forward to it.” 

From starting in a small yard, then a church, then the mall, they now fill up over 6,000 square feet to stack books and to stack memories.

“We love our community, and we do love to see the joy on people's faces when they come to the rescue mission book sale, and they say things like we've looked forward to this all year long,” said Mariah Perrigan.

There are a variety of topics and genres of books for people to choose from. Whether that be fiction/non-fiction, history, fantasy, sci-fi, children’s books and even bibles are being given out for free, and there’s something here for just about everyone. 

“It's been our policy since book sale number one, all Bibles are always free,” said Will Perrigan.” 

To Pastor Perrigan, it’s not about raising money. 

“We just try to find ways to be a blessing in the midst of this event. It's not just about how much money we can raise, but we also want to see people reading,” said Will Perrigan. 

“He really wants children to be reading,” said Mariah Perrigan. “He wants parents to feel like they can come and scoop up an arm load of books and really have a night enjoying reading to their children."

Being Norfolk’s only active bookstore for just a couple of days once a year, Pastor Perrigan believes the strong want for books best serves the community. 

“They're certainly blessed that they see that we put this kind of effort forth to raise money to serve them,” said Will Perrigan.