HPU Book Fair | Wednesday, September 23, 2026 | Phillips Circle
This year, HPU Libraries has a packed calendar of events built around something important: bringing people together. Paint Night lets you explore your creativity; Sewing Basics teaches you how to patch your own jeans instead of throwing them out; the Second Annual Haunted Library turns the stacks spooky for a night.
That’s why we’re so excited to announce two of our biggest community-building initiatives of the year: the HPU Book Fair on September 23rd and Read. Reflect. Connect., launching at the Book Fair and running through spring with events all semester long.
Mark your calendars: on Wednesday, September 23rd, HPU Libraries is teaming up with The HPU Writing Center, led by Dr. Justin Cook, to bring you a nostalgic, Scholastic-style book fair at Phillips Circle on the Promenade. Now in its third year with the library on board, this event is about a lot more than browsing a few tables of books.
You’ll find multiple tables and activities going at once, all built around one goal: give you a reason to slow down, hang out, and engage with the HPU Community instead of rushing off to class. There will be a prize wheel you can spin for a chance at the bigger prizes. There will also be a food truck to keep you fueled while you browse. The Book Fair is built for wandering, lingering, and capturing the magic of the Scholastic book fairs of your childhood. In that spirit, here’s what else you’ll find:
Vintage Video Gaming: Play new and classic games on the Switch 2, N64, Wii, and more, courtesy of Media Services!
Zine Making: Get creative and add a page to a collaborative zine that will become part of HPU Libraries. Then stop by the photo booth, grab a prop, snap some photos, and tell us what you love most about books!
Throw in a DJ, courtesy of Student Life, and Phillips Circle is going to be the liveliest spot on campus that afternoon.
The books are a nostalgic lineup of childhood favorites. A few you can look forward to:
Holes, by Louis Sachar: dodge yellow-spotted lizards while Stanley Yelnats learns that “building character” really means digging holes all day under a brutal desert sun and ends up untangling a decades-old family curse in the process.
Eragon, by Christopher Paolini: outrun a pair of hooded, black-caped Ra’zac while Eragon learns that the strange stone he found in the woods was actually a dragon egg . . . and raising Saphira in secret drags him into a rebellion against the king before he can even begin to prepare.
Clementine, Friend of the Week, by Sara Pennypacker: feed the fish and be line-leader as Clementine learns that being named “Friend of the Week” comes with more challenges than she ever imagined.
The Book Fair Is Also a Reveal
The Book Fair is also where we’re officially introducing Read. Reflect. Connect., a new community reading experience launching this year. Here’s the idea: what happens when the whole HPU Community reads the same book? One story can spark a lot of different perspectives, conversations, and connections. There will be a table for it at the fair, so if it sounds like your kind of thing, that’s where you can ask questions and sign up before it officially kicks off later in the semester.
The inaugural title is The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, which follows the author’s year-long experiment testing out different theories about what actually makes a life feel happy and worth living. There’s no single “right” takeaway, so there’s plenty of room for different people to connect with different parts of it. No quizzes, no book reports, no pressure to walk in with all the answers. Your book is provided, in whatever format works for you, whether that’s print, e-book, or audiobook. Your perspective is what matters.
Read in the Fall, Events in the Spring
Work through the book on your own time this semester, and then in the spring, we’ll bring it all to life together with conversations, creative activities, screenings, and other events centered on happiness, relationships, purpose, belonging, and personal growth. Come ready to talk about whatever interested you, challenged you, surprised you, or just stuck with you. Sign up by Friday, October 16, 2026 to lock in your book format and get email updates as spring events get announced.
- A community discussion of The Happiness Project, set up as an open, welcoming conversation rather than a formal book talk. You don’t need to have finished the book or have any answers ready. Just show up, talk, and hear other people’s perspectives on the same ideas. Think a conversation with friends, not class discussion.
- A screening of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, followed by a conversation connecting the film to self-discovery, courage, and figuring out what you actually want out of life. If you haven’t seen it, it follows a daydreaming office worker who finally goes looking for the adventure he’s spent his life imagining instead of living.
- A hands-on zine-making event, where you create your own affirmation zine and add to a collaborative piece of community art, turning personal reflection into something shared and visible.
Each event stands on its own, so come to one, two, or all three! You don’t have to have the book finished exactly on time or hit all three to be part of the experience, just show up for whatever speaks to you. The entire purpose is to have fun, engage with the HPU Community, and do a little self-exploration.
One Big Year of Connection
Put together, the Book Fair and Read. Reflect. Connect. are really two doors that open up to the same idea: The HPU Libraries is a place where community happens, not just where research gets done.
This kind of thing works best when people actually show up, so consider this your invitation. Bring a friend or come alone and leave with a few new ones.