On March 1 from 7-10 p.m., the Center for Student Activities transformed the Barnes & Noble at Mississippi State University into an after-hours book fair as part of its Dawgs After Dark event series — overflowing with crafts, contests, giveaways and goodies for students to partake in.
Julia Pratt, coordinator for programs in the MSU Center for Student Activities said that in planning the event they looked to cater to a new audience.
“One of the things that we try to do when we’re planning for new events for Dawgs After Dark is think about what student populations have we not hit yet. What niche, what hobby, what interest area have we not hit?” Pratt said. “There really was sort of this gap in our events that we’re serving for our more artistic students, students that had more literary interests, more art-based interests.”
The Center for Student Activities’ first true foray into catering to these demographics was in the spring 2024 semester with The Midnight Coffee Shop, an open mic night.
“We had a lot of success with that and students really liked it. And we were seeing students at that event that we weren’t seeing at our other events,” Pratt said. “I myself am a big reader and so I thought this would be just kind of a perfect opportunity to pull those students back in, get them involved and also give them some good opportunities to get into reading or books or art, if they are not already.”
Pratt said the goal for the atmosphere of the Late Night Book Fair was to be “low-key” and “really cozy” and to provide a balance and a different experience from the many high-energy Dawgs After Dark events.
The Dawgs After Dark Late Night Book Fair featured a mixture of craft opportunities. By folding cardstock paper, applying stickers, doodling with markers and colored pencils and cutting out words and images from magazines, the students assembled a variety of bookmarks, reading journals and zines to reflect their own interests and aesthetics in a literary fashion. Students were also sent out to scour the sprawling bookshelves of Barnes & Noble to complete bingo cards and scavenger hunts.
After flashing their MSU ID cards, all students were eligible to receive one free book either by an MSU faculty member — Catherine Pierce’s collection of poetry “Danger Days”, Michael Kardos’ novel “Before He Finds Her” and many more — or books with the Magnolia State in its heart such as Jeff Barry’s “Go to Hell Ole Miss”. In addition to the one free book for attendees, Barnes & Noble offered a 10 percent discount on all bookstore purchases during the event.
The Late Night Book Fair drew in a crowd of roughly 100 attendees, spanning all undergraduate and graduate program years and majors. As the demographic of the students in attendance was diverse, so were their favorite activities and aspects of the event.
Kaila Harris, a senior veterinary medical technology major, shared her favorite part of her book fair experience.
“Bonding with my sister, because she’s been away in the Navy. So, getting the time to actually just sit down and do arts and crafts together. We haven’t really done that so this gave us an excuse to have some sister bonding time,” Harris said.
The variety of crafts on hand for attendees to put together was a big hit with practically everyone.
“I liked the bookmark station a lot because it was fun to be creative and make some personal art that you can use every day,” said Zander Whitehead, an undeclared freshman.
Above all, several of the students said they loved and found comfort in the fact that the Late Night Book Fair embodied many of the pop-up book fairs that have become cornerstones in elementary school experiences everywhere. Riley Laird, a freshman microbiology and Spanish major, noted this sentiment.
“I wanted to come because I really liked the book fairs at school growing up. So, I saw all the posters and I was really excited,” Laird said.
Some students even emphasized the value in the idea of book fairs similar to the ones of their youths but for an older audience.
“I feel like it’s such a great thing to inspire a love of reading in the broader community because I feel like most people just don’t read. I think that a fun event where it encourages reading and it encourages looking into books and stuff, it’s really good for the general community to get more into it,” freshman English major Kharma Leverette said. “I’m really excited about any opportunity to, sort of like, spread the love.”
Many of the students who attended the Dawgs After Dark Late Night Book Fair resoundingly agreed that there should be more events akin to it down the line.
“I love the Student Activities’ events because I love an event where you can bring your whole friend group to and you can all enjoy a common theme or something,” said Sarah Sterner, a freshman animal and dairy science student. “I think it’s really nice to strengthen your friendships.”
Caroline Nelson, a sophomore biochemistry major, explained her own takeaway from the entire book fair.
“Events like these, where people can just get together and craft and do fun stuff like this, I think it’s really good for the community,” Nelson said.
Following the conclusion of all Dawgs After Dark activities, a post-event evaluation is sent to all students who attend with a handful of questions to gauge the reception and feelings toward their experience. In turn, the Center for Student Activities takes these answers and uses them in planning the next semester’s calendar — whether it is a repeat of an older event or something entirely new.
“Ultimately, with Dawgs After Dark, we’re always trying to give students a sense of belonging — somewhere they can just go be themselves on campus and meet new people,” Pratt said. “We’re trying to create spaces for students to interact with each other and hopefully come away with a new connection.”
