‘Books can change lives’: Hundreds attend Wordstock at Antelope Park

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — Hundreds of people filled the pavilion at Antelope Park on Saturday for the Wordstock festival.

Thousands of free books lined the tables as families, local businesses and nonprofits all came together.

“We know that books can change lives,” said Ashley Larson, the Programs and Community Outreach Director for Linked2Literacy. “Our mission is that the more books we get into the hands of people in our city, our state, and beyond, the more we know these books can encourage people to be empathetic, engaged in their communities, active in the ways they serve, and things they know. So we want everyone to have at-home libraries and have access to high-quality books, especially a diverse array of books.”

Linked2Literacy spent months sorting, planning and working to get all of the books ready for the day.

Through donations from the community and businesses around the capital city, there’s something for every age group.

“We had a team of volunteers,” Larson said. “If it would’ve been just us, it would’ve taken more time than we had available. We had so many volunteers helping; they all took the books home. They had garages, bedrooms, basements and dining rooms just full of books to sort before we came.”

Families filled bags full of as many books as they could carry, and swapped out anything they might not want anymore.

All of the money raised goes toward helping families without access to books, book fairs or literacy education programs.

But the biggest sign of support came from the crowd itself.

“Each year, this has grown significantly, so we were prepared,” Larson said. “We knew this year, year 4, the word had gotten out; there was a lot of excitement and buzz in Lincoln. But we had lines of people before the doors even opened for the book swap. We’ve been blown away; the weather is good. There is a lot of excitement.”

Linked2Literacy is already planning for a bigger space to host Wordstock next year.

That way, the many lines of people can all have access to a free book.